California · Nonprofit
SPECIAL OPERATIONS - FINDING KIDS
SPECIAL OPERATIONS - FINDING KIDS (California) receives grants from 35 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,035,365 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,303,611). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 77% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.4M
- Funders on record
- 35
- Grants received
- $3.0M
- Net assets
- $1.1M
What Special Operations - Finding Kids does
Mission
Finding kids is a nonprofit organization dedicated to locating missing and exploited children, supporting children and families through recovery, and helping law enforcement identify and arrest predators. At no cost to families, the organization works with licensed private investigators and cyber-intelligence specialists to locate missing children through investigative fieldwork, digital intelligence, and collaboration with law enforcement. Following a child's recovery, finding kids provides trauma- informed aftercare, parent advocacy, youth advocacy, and resource navigation to help families heal and regain stability. The organization also partners with law enforcement to identify and disrupt individuals seeking to exploit minors through proactive investigative initiatives.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
We deploy private investigators to gather information and find missing children and those most vulnerable to exploitation. From interviewing families, friends, and acquaintances to analyzing call logs, social media activity, and open-source intelligence, every step is designed to uncover vital clues. Our investigators conduct fieldwork across county and state lines, access public records, and collaborate with law enforcement to share actionable information that can be used in their criminal investigations.
$415,765 spent56% of program spendingOur aftercare advocates connect with the family to offer parents and caregivers a range of supportive services. These initial efforts are designed to provide immediate emotional and practical guidance during an incredibly challenging time. Parents receive coaching to restore trust and communication and address family dynamics. Additionally, our support groups for parents foster community and shared understanding, with guidance on online safety. Our child advocates have lived experience and offer individualized coaching to help the child process their experiences, rebuild trust, and regain a sense of safety. Our focus is on helping the child feel safe, understood, and supported as they begin their journey toward restoration and reintegration into their community and school. Finding kids coordinates with other ngos and aftercare agencies to monitor the long term stability and wellbeing of the child.
$165,579 spentof which $38,290 as grants22% of program spendingOur private investigators gather actionable information that is passed on to law enforcement for use in their criminal investigations to help hold those who prey on children accountable.
$122,362 spentof which $1,000 as grants17% of program spendingPartnership engagement
$34,733 spentof which $2,571 as grants5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $738,439.
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 2024 to 2025, from $689k to $1.1M (+67%).
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.
42% of SPECIAL OPERATIONS - FINDING KIDS’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (93% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
Isabelle Finney
CEO
Board chair
Lyn Miller
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 12 funders, grant income rose $10k → $597k.
16 of 35 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 77% 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 OPERATIONS - FINDING KIDS’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 35 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 OPERATIONS - FINDING KIDS leans on a few funders — its largest provides 43% of grant income and the top three 61%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
78% 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 OPERATIONS - FINDING KIDS.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 85% · 2021 39% · 2022 30% · 2023 36% — 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
100% of SPECIAL OPERATIONS - FINDING KIDS's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 40% 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
77% of SPECIAL OPERATIONS - FINDING KIDS'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 $687k that is directly attributable, 63% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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 OPERATIONS - FINDING KIDS runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 793 crime & legal nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 793 crime & legal nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like SPECIAL OPERATIONS - FINDING KIDS
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
69% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
58%
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 OPERATIONS - FINDING KIDS: 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 OPERATIONS - FINDING KIDS?
- SPECIAL OPERATIONS - FINDING KIDS (California) receives grants from 35 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,035,365 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,303,611). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 77% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SPECIAL OPERATIONS - FINDING KIDS have?
- IRS filings report 35 organizations giving $3,035,365 in grants to SPECIAL OPERATIONS - FINDING KIDS, 14 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SPECIAL OPERATIONS - FINDING KIDS?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $1,303,611 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SPECIAL OPERATIONS - FINDING KIDS find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 35 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