Illinois · Nonprofit
Special Children's Charities
Special Children's Charities (Illinois) receives grants from 107 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,777,933 to it, the largest being SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC ($710,750). 48 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $8.9M
- Funders on record
- 107
- Grants received
- $2.8M
- Net assets
- $6.4M
What Special Children's Charities does
Mission
Since 1969, Special Children's Charities has been the driving force behind inclusion and empowerment for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities throughout Chicago. Our high-quality athletic, educational and life-enriching programs inspire our participants to dream big, overcome obstacles and achieve their goals. Our transformative programs champion the rights and potential of individuals, support their families and uplift communities.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
In cooperation with the Chicago Park District Special Recreation Program and the Chicago Public Schools, Special Children's Charities provides funding for the year-round sports training, recreational, and social programs for the children and adults participating in the programs.
$3,851,341 spentof which $1,162,854 as grants$44,976 earned by the program70% of program spendingAfter 22 Program - Developed in partnership with Anixter Center and City Colleges of Chicago, Special Children's Charities funds the After 22 program which gives young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities the opportunity to continue to receive educational services and develop job readiness skills after they age out of the Chicago Public Schools system.
$314,256 spentof which $300,963 as grants6% of program spendingArt & Music Therapy Program - Special Children's Charities funds art and music therapy services to students in cluster programs at Chicago Public Schools and various Chicago Park District locations. Licensed certified art and music therapists work with students to enhance sensory integration, imagination, and abstract thinking, while they improve their social skills and build stronger relationships.
$1,054,335 spentof which $931,050 as grants19% of program spendingLife Enriching Programs - Special Children's Charities funds programs designed to provide participants with a vital resource for education, creativity, and friendship. Programs are available virtually and in-person, through the Chicago Park District, and other agencies throughout the city. Programs include music, science and creative arts classes and programs.
$244,745 spent4% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,464,677.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2019 to 2020, from $4.4M to $5.7M (+30%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 7% · 2018 9% · 2019 7% · 2020 9% · 2021 18% · 2022 43% · 2023 58% · 2024 65%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2020 and FY2021 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 13 funders to 39 funders, grant income rose $62k → $266k.
10 of 107 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 33% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of Special Children's Charities’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 107 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
Special Children's Charities has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 26% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
84% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund Special Children's Charities.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 40% · 2018 95% · 2019 31% · 2020 15% · 2021 31% · 2022 23% · 2023 26% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
30% of Special Children's Charities's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 45% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
Special Children's Charities draws 58% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 24 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $930k arriving through sponsors registered in 9 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Organizations like Special Children's Charities
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
97%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Special Children's Charities: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds Special Children's Charities?
- Special Children's Charities (Illinois) receives grants from 107 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,777,933 to it, the largest being SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC ($710,750). 48 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Special Children's Charities have?
- IRS filings report 107 organizations giving $2,777,933 in grants to Special Children's Charities, 48 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Special Children's Charities?
- SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC is the largest funder on record, with $710,750 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Special Children's Charities find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 107 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing