Wisconsin · Nonprofit
THE PLAYING FIELD INC
THE PLAYING FIELD INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 38 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,204,194 to it, the largest being THE ROOTS AND WINGS FOUNDATION INC ($1,280,350). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $4.1M
- Funders on record
- 38
- Grants received
- $5.2M
- Net assets
- $4.5M
What The Playing Field Inc does
Mission
The playing field is dedicated to breaking the barriers faced by low-income families in accessing high-quality early care and education.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
Education and child care services - program services include providing early education and child care services to children from varying socio-economic backgrounds.during the 2023-24 fiscal year, the playing field was able to supplement tuition subsidies or provide no cost child care for 37 children, ensuring that the true cost of child care was not unreachable for families in need. This support ensured that families had available, safe, high quality child care enabling parents to obtain financial independence through employment. Additionally, financial support in emergency situations was also provided. The family emergency designated funds supported several instances of need by providing rent payments, emergency housing, car repairs, transportation expenses, groceries, and baby supplies. Additionally, scholarship funds were used to support 12 children to ensure continuity of care as they transitioned into preschool programs. In order to provide highly specialized care for a diverse community of children, the playing field also invested in extensive training and professional development opportunities for all staff members. This investment ensures that all children receive the…
$2,339,343 spentof which $1,287 as grants$1,328,623 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2023 Form 990. Program spending in total: $2,339,343.
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 2022 to 2023, from $1.0M to $3.6M (+244%).
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: 2018 18% · 2019 27% · 2020 54% · 2021 54% · 2022 7% · 2023 19% · 2024 46%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
82% of THE PLAYING FIELD INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 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
Abbi Kruse
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 23 funders, grant income rose $15k → $1.0M.
8 of 38 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 15% 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 THE PLAYING FIELD INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 38 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
THE PLAYING FIELD INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 25% 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
38% 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 PLAYING FIELD INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 67% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 61% · 2021 51% · 2022 46% · 2023 37% — 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
33% of THE PLAYING FIELD INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 55% 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
61% of THE PLAYING FIELD INC's grant income comes from Wisconsin funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $781k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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 PLAYING FIELD INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 11,752 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,752 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like THE PLAYING FIELD 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 Wisconsin
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
89%
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 THE PLAYING FIELD 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 THE PLAYING FIELD INC?
- THE PLAYING FIELD INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 38 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,204,194 to it, the largest being THE ROOTS AND WINGS FOUNDATION INC ($1,280,350). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE PLAYING FIELD INC have?
- IRS filings report 38 organizations giving $5,204,194 in grants to THE PLAYING FIELD INC, 21 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE PLAYING FIELD INC?
- THE ROOTS AND WINGS FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,280,350 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE PLAYING FIELD INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Wisconsin. 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 Playing Field →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 38 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