Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC
SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 913 organizations whose IRS filings report $69,130,177 to it, the largest being Lions Clubs International Foundation ($15,937,717). 408 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $186M
- Funders on record
- 913
- Grants received
- $69M
- Net assets
- $139M
What Special Olympics Inc does
Mission
Special olympics strives to create a better world by fostering the acceptance and inclusion of people of all abilities through sports, health and education programs.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Health workdespite severe need and higher health risks, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (idd) are often unable to access the quality care that they need to maintain optimal health. Special olympics health programs proactively address the health risks and barriers that individuals with idd face, through programming that is operationalized through four foci - prevention, assessment, training, and health systems strengthening (the p.a.t.h to health equity). In each area, special olympics has expanded existing programming and resources, integrated recent technology and innovations, and garnered support for continued growth. Within the area of prevention, over 256,000 children with and without idd, benefitted from the young athletes program in 2023. This early childhood development program improves motor skills and social and cognitive development. In addition, a resource of year-long lesson plans was developed and piloted for young athletes, filling a much-needed gap in kindergarten curricula. To complement these efforts, the young athletes app underwent a round of enhancements and launched in six languages within google play and apple app stores globally. Over…
$78,190,665 spentof which $34,544,915 as grants$2,645,601 earned by the program58% of program spendingPublic education and communicationsat the end of 2023, 151 countries had adopted special olympics school programming across seven global regions, with 41 country programs receiving direct grant-funded support from special olympics headquarters. This funding was thanks to the backing of significant contributors such as the stavros niarchos foundation (snf) and his highness sheikh mohammed bin zayed al nahyan, president of the u.a.e., ruler of abu dhabi, supreme commander of the u.a.e. Armed forces (mbz), along with partners like hasbro. Within the united states, unified champion schools (ucs) began its 16th year of partnership with the office of special education programs at the u.s. Department of education, and at the end of 2023, special olympics north america was poised to surpass its 2024 target of 10,000 schools, pre-k through college, engaged across the country. Over one million young people have participated in inclusive experiences through ucs aimed at promoting social inclusion through activities affecting systems-wide change. In 2023, ucs received the esteemed academy choice award from hundred, a global leader in education innovation. Hundred annually recognizes the top…
$46,967,835 spentof which $22,386,055 as grants35% of program spendingSports training and competitionin 2023 special olympics hosted its flagship sport event, a post pandemic celebration of global sport and competition, the 2023 special olympics world games. The movement's sport partnership work offered unprecedented support and involvement from international sport federations at the world games. Many of the movement's sport federation partners assisted with the recruitment of technical officials, storytelling, and facilitating connections between national federations and local special olympics programs to support the training and preparation for the world games. At the berlin world games, special olympics signed new partnership agreements with the international table tennis federation foundation, the international cycling federation, the international hockey federation, and renewed its partnership with the international volleyball federation. Special olympics continued its efforts in developing sport partnerships as a strategic approach to sport development. Special olympics renewed its agreement with the international basketball federation and worked closely with many partners on various initiatives to increase and enhance the quality of sport…
$9,821,702 spentof which $966,578 as grants$2,377,986 earned by the program7% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $134,980,202.
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. 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 2020 to 2021, from $130M to $155M (+20%).
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 12% · 2018 15% · 2019 19% · 2020 19% · 2021 24% · 2022 28% · 2023 31% · 2024 31%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
92% of SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (5% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Chief executive
Ms Mary Davis
CEO & president
Board chair
Dr Timothy Shriver
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 191 funders to 258 funders, grant income rose $4.7M → $7.7M.
57 of 913 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 18% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $3.3M from one payer (the same organization on both sides, largest Special Olympics Inc); $250k from one payer (an institutional transfer, not a grant programme, largest Goldberg Family Foundation 217-48576810). These are real filings, and they are not money SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC raised.
From the IRS filings of SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 913 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 OLYMPICS INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 23% 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
72% 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 OLYMPICS INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 36% · 2018 40% · 2019 25% · 2020 19% · 2021 25% · 2022 23% · 2023 24% — 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
26% of SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC'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 OLYMPICS INC draws 99% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 48 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $12M arriving through sponsors registered in 21 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 OLYMPICS INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 22 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 22 recreation & sports nonprofits over $100M, FY2024
Government funding SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $399.5M on record.
- Department of Education$260.7M
- Department of Health and Human Services$138.2M
- Department of State$628k
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 OLYMPICS INC
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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
93%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 51 states
Part of a family of 7 related entities
- Special Olympics Asia Pacific (Ltd) · disregarded
- Christmas Records Trust · disregarded
- So Europe Eurasia (Soee) Foundation · exempt
- Special Olympics Entertainment Corporation · exempt
- Special Olympics Community Services Ltd · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC: 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 OLYMPICS INC?
- SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 913 organizations whose IRS filings report $69,130,177 to it, the largest being Lions Clubs International Foundation ($15,937,717). 408 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC have?
- IRS filings report 913 organizations giving $69,130,177 in grants to SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC, 408 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC?
- Lions Clubs International Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $15,937,717 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 913 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