Illinois · Nonprofit
SPECIAL GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN
SPECIAL GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN (Illinois) receives grants from 44 organizations whose IRS filings report $725,832 to it, the largest being CIRCLE OF SERVICE FOUNDATION ($100,000). 26 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $679k
- Funders on record
- 44
- Grants received
- $726k
- Net assets
- $467k
What Special Gifts Theatre Inc Co Elise Larsen does
Mission
To enhance the lives of students with developmental disabilities and physical disabilities through theatrical classes.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Musical Theatre ProgramTheatre skills have shown to be an excellent tool for enhancing an individual's self-esteem and self-confidence; problem-solving abilities; listening, focusing, attention and communication skills; and for fostering cooperation with others. The Musical Theatre Program is unique in that the emphasis is not on the perfection of the final performance, but rather the student's personal growth and development. It is a process and not a product-oriented program. Though recreational in scope, it is educationally and therapeutically based. The Organization's creative drama classes and theatre programs utilize the specialized skills of occupational, physical, recreational and speech therapists, as well as special education and theatre arts professionals. These professionals design and adapt the classroom activities and the final production to meet the individual needs of each student
$347,535 spent66% of program spendingThe adult program (18 years and older) puts creativity into action through impromptu storytelling, character transformation and team based performance. Students use these techniques to further develop public speaking, self-confidence and adapt to new situations
$77,826 spent15% of program spendingCommunity Awareness
$77,072 spent15% of program spendingCreativity in MotionStudents bring stories to life through movement and music. With current pop hits and other songs, students are able to develop their range of motion, coordination and self-confidence.
$25,412 spent5% of program spendingCreating Outside the LinesThis adult program (18 years and older) puts creativity into action through impromptu storytelling, character transformation and team based performance. Students use these techniques to further develop public speaking, self-confidence and adapt to new situations.
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $527,845.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $401k to $463k (+15%).
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: 2021 19% · 2022 11% · 2023 10% · 2024 11% · 2025 12%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
52% of SPECIAL GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 5 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.
Board chair
Matt Miller
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 21 funders, grant income rose $50k → $130k.
8 of 44 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 16% 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 GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 44 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 GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 14% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 38% · 2018 32% · 2019 28% · 2020 23% · 2021 29% · 2022 20% · 2023 23% — 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
52% of SPECIAL GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% 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
66% of SPECIAL GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN's grant income comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $120k arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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.
Against its field
SPECIAL GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN is better cushioned than half of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Government funding SPECIAL GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $10k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$10k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like SPECIAL GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN
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
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SPECIAL GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN: 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 GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN?
- SPECIAL GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN (Illinois) receives grants from 44 organizations whose IRS filings report $725,832 to it, the largest being CIRCLE OF SERVICE FOUNDATION ($100,000). 26 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SPECIAL GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN have?
- IRS filings report 44 organizations giving $725,832 in grants to SPECIAL GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN, 26 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SPECIAL GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN?
- CIRCLE OF SERVICE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $100,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SPECIAL GIFTS THEATRE INC CO ELISE LARSEN 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.
Play a game about who funds Special Gifts Theatre Inc Co Elise Larsen →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), and the filings of 44 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing