Illinois · Nonprofit
STEPPING STONE THEATER
STEPPING STONE THEATER (Illinois) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $23,163 to it, the largest being PAYPAL CHARITABLE GIVING FUND ($23,163). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2023
- $2k
- Funders on record
- 1
- Grants received
- $23k
- Net assets
- $19k
What Stepping Stone Theater does
Mission
Stepping Stone Theater focuses on celebrating and amplifying creative diverse voices by providing affordable and accessible resources with a focus on community outreach and theatrical performance.
As stated on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
Socials: Affordable and accessible community outreach and theatrical performance to celebrate and amplify creative diverse voices. Approximately 100 people attended this networking event that provided a platform for local artists while continuing to diversify the Chicago comedy community.
$0 spent0% of program spendingPop-Up Community Events: Offering affordable and accessible theatrical performance while celebrating and amplifying creative diverse voices. Approximately 100 people attended these events which were geared toward supporting comedians.
$0 spent0% of program spendingYouth Workshops: Providing youth with exposure to the affordable and accessible art form of Improvisation to encourage, celebrate, and amplify young creative diverse voices. Young people attended and learned the concept of "Yes, And" an improv communication tool to help in agreement of ideas and building ideas collaboratively.
$0 spent0% of program spending10K Hour Practice Sessions are affordable and accessible resources available during community outreach focused on celebrating and amplifying creative diverse voices through theatrical performance technique practice sessions centered around teamwork and imagination. Throughout the year approximately 100 people attended regular practice sessions with a volunteer comedy coach.
$162 spent39% of program spendingCollaborative Events: Offering affordable and accessible theatrical performance in collaboration with other local theater troupes with the mission of celebrating and amplifying creative diverse voices. Approximately 100 people attended these events which were geared toward supporting comedians.
$0 spent0% of program spendingProfessional Development & Services: Offering affordable and accessible professional development and services which are required for performers and comedians with the industry; while spotlighting our mission of celebrating and amplifying creative diverse voices. Approximately 25 people attended these events which were geared toward supporting comedians and performers in the Chicago improv community.
$250 spent61% of program spending
The 6 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $412.
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.
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 $27k to $22k (−16%).
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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 3 reported years ran a deficit.
Leadership and staff
Chief executive
Julia Morales
President/Executive Director
As listed on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
1 of 1 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 100% 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 STEPPING STONE THEATER’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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.
Where its funders are
100% of STEPPING STONE THEATER'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. Too little is directly attributable to place on a map.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $23k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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 STEPPING STONE THEATER
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.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for STEPPING STONE THEATER: 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 STEPPING STONE THEATER?
- STEPPING STONE THEATER (Illinois) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $23,163 to it, the largest being PAYPAL CHARITABLE GIVING FUND ($23,163). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does STEPPING STONE THEATER have?
- IRS filings report 1 organization giving $23,163 in grants to STEPPING STONE THEATER.
- Who is the largest funder of STEPPING STONE THEATER?
- PAYPAL CHARITABLE GIVING FUND is the largest funder on record, with $23,163 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like STEPPING STONE THEATER 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 Stepping Stone Theater →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2023 (financials across 2021–2023), and the filings of 1 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