North Carolina · Nonprofit
SPECIAL OLYMPICS NORTH CAROLINA INC
SPECIAL OLYMPICS NORTH CAROLINA INC (North Carolina) receives grants from 141 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,111,503 to it, the largest being SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC ($9,678,161). 74 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $7.5M
- Funders on record
- 141
- Grants received
- $13M
- Net assets
- $11M
What Special Olympics North Carolina Inc does
Mission
The mission of special olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other special olympics athletes, and the community.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Special olympics north carolina, inc. (the organization or sonc) is a nonprofit corporation authorized and accredited by special olympics, incorporated (soi). The organization was established in 1971 to improve the physical, social, and psychological development of citizens with intellectual disabilities through successful experiences in sports training, health programs and competitions based on data from the special olympics 2025 global athlete census, special olympics north carolina (sonc) engaged nearly 53,000 athletes and unified partners across the state, offering 20 sports and hosting 650 events supported by 1,337 coaches. Through the special olympics unified champion schools initiative, 31,848 students in 680 schools participated in inclusive activities. As part of sonc's ongoing commitment to improving athlete health, 19,771 participants took part in so good, a multi week health education and fitness program delivered either at home or in the classroom.
$5,467,179 spent80% of program spendingSpecial olympics north carolina is organized at the grassroots level with nearly 100 accredited local programs serving almost every county in the state. Most local programs are organized by county. Local programs are managed by local coordinators who oversee all aspects of the program ranging from athlete registration to fundraising to organizing local training and competition. Local programs host spring games taking place march through may.additionally, athletes represented the state in various out-of-state competitions across multiple sports, showcasing their skills and sportsmanship.health and fitness is one of special olympics north carolina's key components to our strategic plan. Despite our impact via sports, special olympics' research has shown that people with intellectual disabilities (id) are consistently left out of health systems that are ill-equipped to diagnose and treat them. Medical professionals recognize how many people can be reached by partnering with sonc. Not surprisingly, our athlete leadership of special olympics nc has identified "health, fitness, and nutrition" as a top priority for the organization to address.
$1,340,080 spent$68,030 earned by the program20% of program spendingIn a typical year, special olympics relies on the energy, expertise, and commitment of over 43,000 volunteers each year to carry out year-round sports training, competition, and health/wellness opportunities for nearly 53,000 athletes and unified partners. Special olympics recruits volunteers of all ages, backgrounds, and availability to serve roles that include event planning, athlete outreach, coordination of logistics, sport development team members, recruitment of other volunteers, unified champion schools, health initiatives, and much more. Volunteer coaches are essential to providing quality experiences for participating athletes, and through the special olympics north carolina coaches' certification process these volunteers are trained to meet the unique needs of people with intellectual disabilities.
$57,024 spent1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,864,283.
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 2020 to 2021, from $8.7M to $11M (+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: 2017 1% · 2018 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 0% · 2021 6% · 2022 0% · 2023 21% · 2024 23% · 2025 16%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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.
Chief executive
Keith L Fishburne
President/CEO
Board chair
Ken Smith
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 25 funders to 49 funders, grant income rose $1.0M → $2.1M.
32 of 141 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 14% 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 OLYMPICS NORTH CAROLINA INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 141 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 NORTH CAROLINA INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 74% of grant income and the top three 79%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
92% 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 NORTH CAROLINA INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 87% · 2018 74% · 2019 70% · 2020 70% · 2021 79% · 2022 69% · 2023 77% — 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
40% of SPECIAL OLYMPICS NORTH CAROLINA INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% 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 NORTH CAROLINA INC draws 92% of its grant income from funders outside North Carolina, across 21 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 17 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 OLYMPICS NORTH CAROLINA 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 North Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
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 OLYMPICS NORTH CAROLINA 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 NORTH CAROLINA INC?
- SPECIAL OLYMPICS NORTH CAROLINA INC (North Carolina) receives grants from 141 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,111,503 to it, the largest being SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC ($9,678,161). 74 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SPECIAL OLYMPICS NORTH CAROLINA INC have?
- IRS filings report 141 organizations giving $13,111,503 in grants to SPECIAL OLYMPICS NORTH CAROLINA INC, 74 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SPECIAL OLYMPICS NORTH CAROLINA INC?
- SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC is the largest funder on record, with $9,678,161 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SPECIAL OLYMPICS NORTH CAROLINA INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. 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 Olympics North Carolina →
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 141 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