Illinois · Nonprofit
UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC
UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC (Illinois) receives grants from 76 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,448,978 to it, the largest being THE BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND ($1,469,890). 53 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 57% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.5M
- Funders on record
- 76
- Grants received
- $9.4M
- Net assets
- $8.5M
What United Way of Lake County Inc does
Mission
To unite leadership and resources for lasting change, by focusing on meeting the financial, social, and educational needs of families and individuals to improve their quality of life.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Program achievements include sending designations to other 501(c)(3) organizations, some of which are paid directly by the donor, and other exempt purpose achievements.
$2,991,444 spentof which $2,595,979 as grants$1,446 earned by the program60% of program spendingSuccess by six: children enter kindergarten ready to succeed. This is achieved through a combination of direct service and grants to program partners. Grants to the community totaled $188,000. There were 6 agencies involved that served 225 clients in 2025. These programs ensured children enter kindergarten with the skills they need to be successful in school. Direct service programs have a combined spend of $778,426. Included kindergarten countdown camp serving 116 children and early learning clubs serving 2,909 children. These programs meet the goal: children enter kindergarten with the skills they need to be successful in school. Direct service programs better together served 75 families and 841 families subscribed to, lantern, formerly known as bright by text. (see schedule o) those programs meet the goal: parents become their child's first teacher and parents of children 0-11 have tips to ensure their children thrive. Resources included 20,000 kindergarten readiness calendars distributed to children age 4-6.
$778,426 spent16% of program spending211/safe & stable families: a free, confidential, multilingual, 24/7, 365 days per year information and referral helpline. Provides information and referrals to people in need using phone calls, text messaging and online searchable databases. Trained specialists assist individuals and families in need with access to available health and human services: such as food, emergency shelter, rent and utility assistance, health clincs, substance abuse and mental health counseling, and more. 9,299 contacts were made to 211 resulting in 13,905 needs and 15,041 referrals with a spend of $885,063. The greatest needs addressed included housing and shelter (44%) utilities (12%), food (6%), employment and income (7%), and healthcare (5%).
$885,063 spent18% of program spendingYouth success has a spend of approximately $349,252 . It meets the goal: students staying on track to graduation while having access to the critical support, mentorship, and resources to succeed in school, work, and life. Direct service programs include parent mentor program (1100 students and 48 parents) and breakfast club (38 students). Resources include (3388 backpacks, 65 volunteer events, 1481 volunteers and 2829 volunteer hours, and a total of 17 sensory paths, and 20 learning trails, and 9 motivational message experitenal learning installations). Students received mentorship in academics, social emotional support, and guidance to develop the skills needed to succeed.
$349,252 spent7% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,004,185.
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 $10M to $8.8M (−12%).
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: 2022 3% · 2023 11% · 2024 38%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
96% of UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 21 funders to 35 funders, grant income rose $690k → $1.3M.
18 of 76 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 57% 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 UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 76 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
UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 16% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
65% 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 UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 35% · 2018 42% · 2019 44% · 2020 29% · 2021 32% · 2022 31% · 2023 37% — broadly stable.
“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 UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 70% 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
57% of UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC'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 $4.1M that is directly attributable, 94% of it comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 13 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
UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC's revenue fell 18% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,645 philanthropy nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY 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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
82%
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 UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY 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 UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC?
- UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC (Illinois) receives grants from 76 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,448,978 to it, the largest being THE BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND ($1,469,890). 53 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 57% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC have?
- IRS filings report 76 organizations giving $9,448,978 in grants to UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC, 53 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC?
- THE BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND is the largest funder on record, with $1,469,890 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like UNITED WAY OF LAKE COUNTY INC 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 76 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