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Virginia · Nonprofit

THANKS USA

THANKS USA (Virginia) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,844,306 to it, the largest being THE KOVNER FOUNDATION ($535,000). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2019
$658k
Funders on record
33
Grants received
$1.8M
Net assets
$168k
15/33 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 57%
01What it does

What Thanks USA does

Mission

Thanks u.s.a. Mobilizes americans of all ages to "thank" the men and women of the united states armed forces by providing financial need-based college, technical, and vocational school scholarships and pathways to meaningful employment for their spouses and college-aged children.

As stated on its FY2019 Form 990.

Program

Scholarship program - in 2019, 199 scholarships were awarded, bringing the total since 2006 to more than 4,500 scholarships valued at approximately $14 million. Recipients come from each of the 50 states and the district of columbia, and represent all military branches including the guard and reserves, with preference given to families of the fallen and wounded. Included in the 199 scholarships, are in-kind scholarships received and awarded by thanks u.s.a. Valued at $270,540. Thanks u.s.a. Also maintained pathways for patriots, a programmatic expansion that connects our scholarship applicants and the corporate community to help bridge the gap between education and meaningful employment. We do that by facilitating networking, mentoring, and internship opportunities between our scholars and sponsors.

The first program described on its most recent Form 990, which lists programs largest first by expense.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($1.9M) Expenses 100 ($1.8M) Net assets 100 ($1.3M)2018 Revenue 66 ($1.2M) Expenses 90 ($1.7M) Net assets 62 ($836k)2019 Revenue 35 ($658k) Expenses 75 ($1.4M) Net assets 12 ($168k)
201720182019
Revenue (35)Expenses (75)Net assets (12)

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2017 to 2018, from $1.7M to $1.2M (−30%).

$1.7M
$1.2M
$789k
201720182019
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2018 1% · 2019 13%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 3 reported years ran a deficit.

$65k
’17
−$415k
’18
−$715k
’19
1.1
months of
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.

201720182019
Listed313332
Joined·+7+2
No longer listed·53
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 10 funders to 6 funders, grant income fell $244k → $151k.

6 of 33 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 29% 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 THANKS USA’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 33 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

THANKS USA has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 29% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left

52% 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 THANKS USA.

29%
largest funder
58%
top three
~7
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 41% · 2018 56% · 2019 55% · 2020 25% · 2021 27% · 2022 28% · 2023 67% — 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

36% of THANKS USA's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 45% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

THANKS USA draws 96% of its grant income from funders outside Virginia, across 17 states in all.

IL
MI
NY
MA
NV
WY
IN
OH
NJ
CA
VA
DE
KS
TN
NC
DC
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Virginia out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $535k 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.

04Its place in the field

Government funding THANKS USA receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $194k on record.

Federal$194k
grants $194kcontracts $0
18
20
Top agencies
  • Department of Veterans Affairs$194k

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 THANKS USA

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 Virginia

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

87% of spending goes to programs.

Program 87%Management 7%Fundraising 6%

Governance

26
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

90%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 12 states

NH
IL
NY
MA
OR
NJ
CA
KY
VA
MD
KS
DC

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THANKS USA: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 THANKS USA?
THANKS USA (Virginia) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,844,306 to it, the largest being THE KOVNER FOUNDATION ($535,000). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does THANKS USA have?
IRS filings report 33 organizations giving $1,844,306 in grants to THANKS USA, 15 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of THANKS USA?
THE KOVNER FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $535,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like THANKS USA find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. 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 Thanks USA →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2019 (financials across 2017–2019), and the filings of 33 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