Illinois · Nonprofit
THE HOPE SCHOOL
THE HOPE SCHOOL (Illinois) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $168,574 to it, the largest being HICKMAN FLORA PAXTON FDN ($53,142). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $34M
- Funders on record
- 10
- Grants received
- $169k
- Net assets
- $22M
What The Hope School does
Mission
The hope learning academy serves children with intellectual/developmental disabilities and neurological disorders and their families by providing homes in which to grow, schools in which to learn, clinics in which to become healthier, research into emerging practices, and training for providers and parents.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
Hope behavioral consulting (hbc) provides behavioral health services and consultation to children and adults with developmental and behavioral needs. Services include behavioral assessments, development and implementation of behavior support plans, applied behavior analysis (aba) therapy, and training for caregivers, educators, and service providers. Hbc works in collaboration with families, schools, and community organizations to improve behavioral outcomes, strengthen daily living skills, and support individuals in home, school, and community settings. Community day services (cds) provides daytime programming for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities designed to promote independence, skill development, and community participation. Services include life skills training, vocational skill development, community integration activities, and individualized supports based on participant goals. Through structured programming and community-based experiences, cds helps individuals build social, employment, and daily living skills that support greater independence and quality of life.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
Hope residential academy: provides residential care and supportive services for youth with developmental and behavioral needs. Services are delivered across a continuum of care that includes a child care institution (cci) setting for youth requiring more intensive structure and supervision, as well as community-based, family-style group homes located throughout springfield, illinois. Hope currently operates 13 homes designed to provide safe, stable living environments within local neighborhoods. As youth develop skills and meet individualized goals, they may transition from the cci setting to group homes and other less restrictive living arrangements that support increased independence and community integration.
$15,054,153 spent$17,641,337 earned by the program50% of program spendingHope learning academy: springfield/edwardsville provides specialized educational services for children and youth with autism and other developmental disabilities. Established in 1957, the academy offers individualized instruction, therapeutic supports, and transition services designed to help students develop academic, social, and life skills. Programs include therapeutic education, community-integrated classrooms, and vocational training through the hope vocational academy, which prepares students for employment and greater independence through job skills training and community work opportunities.the hope therapeutic day academy (htda), established in 2004 and located within hope learning academy in springfield, provides a therapeutic, evidence-based educational program for students in grades k-8 who experience emotional and behavioral challenges related to mental health concerns. Licensed therapists and educators work collaboratively with families and referring school districts to support students' academic, social, and emotional development and to help transition students back to their home school environments when appropriate.
$10,014,499 spent$9,505,853 earned by the program33% of program spendingThe autism program of illinois (tap): is a statewide service network administered by hope and funded through the illinois department of human services. The network includes 15 partner agencies and universities located throughout illinois and is designed to respond to the diverse needs of individuals with autism spectrum disorder and their families across the state. Tap provides a range of services and resources including developmental screenings, diagnostic evaluations, applied behavior analysis (aba) therapy, social skills groups, family support services, training and education for caregivers and professionals, and community resource centers. The program also supports outreach, awareness, and coordination of services to improve access to autism-related supports across illinois communities.
$4,390,123 spentof which $3,874,483 as grants$149,982 earned by the program14% of program spendingHope behavioral consulting (hbc) provides behavioral health services and consultation to children and adults with developmental and behavioral needs. Services include behavioral assessments, development and implementation of behavior support plans, applied behavior analysis (aba) therapy, and training for caregivers, educators, and service providers. Hbc works in collaboration with families, schools, and community organizations to improve behavioral outcomes, strengthen daily living skills, and support individuals in home, school, and community settings.community day services (cds) provides daytime programming for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities designed to promote independence, skill development, and community participation. Services include life skills training, vocational skill development, community integration activities, and individualized supports based on participant goals. Through structured programming and community-based experiences, cds helps individuals build social, employment, and daily living skills that support greater independence and quality of life.
$851,236 spent3% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $30,310,011.
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 $28M to $22M (−21%).
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 2% · 2018 20% · 2019 16% · 2020 15% · 2021 16% · 2022 16% · 2023 15% · 2024 20% · 2025 19%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
20% of THE HOPE SCHOOL’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).
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.
Board chair
Erin Bromley
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 3 funders, grant income fell $34k → $15k.
2 of 10 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 4% 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: $1.2M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Hope School Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money THE HOPE SCHOOL raised.
From the IRS filings of THE HOPE SCHOOL’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.
How concentrated its funding is
THE HOPE SCHOOL has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 32% 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
46% 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 THE HOPE SCHOOL.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 74% · 2018 100% · 2019 53% · 2020 39% · 2021 34% · 2022 41% · 2023 59% — 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
50% of THE HOPE SCHOOL's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% 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
THE HOPE SCHOOL draws 59% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 5 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $6k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
THE HOPE SCHOOL runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 3,794 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,794 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like THE HOPE SCHOOL
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.
Where the money goes
95% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- The Hope School Foundation · exempt
- Vision for Hope · exempt
- Hope Clinical Care · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE HOPE SCHOOL: 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 THE HOPE SCHOOL?
- THE HOPE SCHOOL (Illinois) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $168,574 to it, the largest being HICKMAN FLORA PAXTON FDN ($53,142). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE HOPE SCHOOL have?
- IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $168,574 in grants to THE HOPE SCHOOL, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE HOPE SCHOOL?
- HICKMAN FLORA PAXTON FDN is the largest funder on record, with $53,142 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE HOPE SCHOOL 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.
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 10 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