Illinois · Nonprofit
SPECIAL LEISURE SERVICES FOUNDATION
SPECIAL LEISURE SERVICES FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $362,384 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($179,445). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 66% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $638k
- Funders on record
- 25
- Grants received
- $362k
- Net assets
- $1.8M
What Special Leisure Services Foundation does
Mission
The purpose of the organization is to support and promote outstanding opportunities through recreation for people with disabilities in cooperation with the northwest special recreation association.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Scholarships - scholarship assistance provided to nwsra participants to support access to recreational programs, camps, and inclusive opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
$91,096 spentof which $91,096 as grants21% of program spendingAccessible vehicle support - accessible vehicle support expenses related to the purchase, maintenance, and operation of adaptive transportation vehicles used to provide safe and accessible transportation for individuals with disabilities.
$90,000 spentof which $90,000 as grants21% of program spendingGeneral program support - general program support expenses that help fund recreational programs, inclusion services, special events, and participant opportunities for individuals with disabilities through nwsra programs and services.
$69,091 spentof which $69,091 as grants16% of program spendingNwsra lightning athletics - nwsra lightning athletics expenses supporting adaptive sports programs, competitions, training opportunities, equipment, and related activities for athletes with disabilities participating in nwsra lightning teams and events.
$68,750 spentof which $68,750 as grants16% of program spendingBuilding improvements - the foundation provides the financial support to make necessary improvements to the building that houses the offices of the association.
$66,059 spentof which $66,059 as grants16% of program spendingInclusion (ada compliance) - the foundation provides grants so that aides and adaptive equipment can be provided to enable individuals with disabilities to mainstream back into their regular park district program.
$38,944 spentof which $38,944 as grants9% of program spending
The 6 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $423,940.
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 2021 to 2022, from $1.8M to $1.3M (−28%).
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: 2022 3% · 2023 3% · 2024 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 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
Anthony Gattuso
Chair (start 01/21/25)
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 10 funders, grant income rose $19k → $41k.
5 of 25 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 66% 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 LEISURE SERVICES FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 24 of 25 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 LEISURE SERVICES FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 50% of grant income and the top three 64%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
83% 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 LEISURE SERVICES FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 54% · 2018 58% · 2019 68% · 2020 95% · 2021 64% · 2022 26% · 2023 63% — growing more concentrated.
“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
40% of SPECIAL LEISURE SERVICES FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% 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 LEISURE SERVICES FOUNDATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $122k that is directly attributable, 79% of it comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $241k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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 LEISURE SERVICES FOUNDATION
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
75% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
88%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Northwest Special Recreation Association · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SPECIAL LEISURE SERVICES FOUNDATION: 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 LEISURE SERVICES FOUNDATION?
- SPECIAL LEISURE SERVICES FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $362,384 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($179,445). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 66% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SPECIAL LEISURE SERVICES FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 25 organizations giving $362,384 in grants to SPECIAL LEISURE SERVICES FOUNDATION, 15 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SPECIAL LEISURE SERVICES FOUNDATION?
- AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $179,445 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SPECIAL LEISURE SERVICES FOUNDATION 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 25 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