Illinois · Nonprofit
University Center of Lake County
University Center of Lake County (Illinois) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $360,063 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($300,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 89% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.4M
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $360k
- Net assets
- $6.1M
What University Center of Lake County does
Mission
The University Center of Lake County provides facilities and support services for its member colleges and universities in delivering higher education programs to lake county students.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Facilities and support provided to 14 member organizations consisting of public and private institutions of higher education. These member organizations deliver over 130 degree options and a variety of certificate programs. Student enrollments exceeded 2000 semester hours, mostly on a part time basis. Students live and/or work in lakecounty illinois and consist of working adults, recent junior college graduates, adults pursuing advanced degrees and non-traditional students returning to school. The university center administers and facilitates the educational services provided by the member institutions to the students.
$3,500,684 spent$411,592 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $3,500,684.
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 $6.2M to $7.9M (+27%).
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 65% · 2018 56% · 2019 52% · 2020 64% · 2021 92% · 2023 55% · 2024 59% · 2025 78%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
87% of University Center of Lake County’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. 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.
Chief executive
C Myra Gaytan-Morales
Executive Director and Dean
Board chair
Bryan Watkins
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2018 and FY2019, and between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base held at 2 funders, grant income rose $10k → $10k.
3 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 89% 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 University Center of Lake County’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
University Center of Lake County leans on a few funders — its largest provides 83% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
89% 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 University Center of Lake County.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — 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.
Where its funders are
89% of University Center of Lake County'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 $40k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $320k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
University Center of Lake County holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 9,398 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,398 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding University Center of Lake County receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.8M on record.
- Department of Education$2.8M
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 University Center of Lake County
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
83% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
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 University Center of Lake County: 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 University Center of Lake County?
- University Center of Lake County (Illinois) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $360,063 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($300,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 89% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does University Center of Lake County have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $360,063 in grants to University Center of Lake County, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of University Center of Lake County?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $300,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like University Center of Lake County 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 University Center of Lake County →
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 4 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