Missouri · Nonprofit
UPPER ROOM KC
UPPER ROOM KC (Missouri) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,943,645 to it, the largest being Greater Kansas City Community Foundation ($1,097,875). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.9M
- Funders on record
- 19
- Grants received
- $2.9M
- Net assets
- $1.2M
What Upper Room Kc does
Mission
Our mission is to provide high quality, educational programs while actively engaging and challenging students to enjoy learning. We work to support urban core neighborhoods by offering and developing quality educational programs.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Summer academic programUpper Room Kc's summer academic program continued to align with missouri learning standards, providing a comprehensive eight-week experience with 11 hours of daily programming for over 1,500 kindergarten through eighth-grade students across 13 sites, including community centers, schools, and churches. Certified teachers delivered academic instruction designed to reinforce and preview core subjects for the upcoming school year, while enrichment offerings in art, music, and physical activity promoted whole-child development. Students also participated in field trips and hands-on learning experiences that expanded classroom lessons into real-world applications. (continued on schedule o)supported by state funding and partnerships with local schools, all programs remained free, subsidized, or low cost, ensuring equitable access for families throughout the kansas city area.
$2,247,081 spent$2,802,901 earned by the program77% of program spendingAfter-school programUpper Room Kc's after-school program provided individualized academic support, enrichment activities, and daily meals for more than 250 students across five program sites. Certified teachers and tutors offered 1-on-1 homework assistance, literacy and math enrichment, and project-based learning experiences aligned with students' school curricula. In 2025, upper room strengthened partnerships with holy cross catholic school, academy for integrated arts (afia), and academie lafayette (oak & cherry campuses), while expanding collaborations with additional schools to better meet community needs. (continued on schedule o)the program continued to prioritize academic continuity, social development, and family support, particularly for working parents seeking structured, safe after-school environments. All programming at Upper Room Kc is state licensed for all after-school sites, underscoring its commitment to quality and compliance.
$585,948 spent$377,041 earned by the program20% of program spendingEarly learning centerUpper Room Kc's early learning center (elc) remained temporarily closed during 2025 as the organization continued to seek a suitable facility for relocation. The organization continues to evaluate cost-effective options to reopen a modernized, accredited early childhood education center in the future.
$102,728 spent3% of program spendingIn addition to its core educational programs, Upper Room Kc continued to strengthen community connections through family engagement events, literacy initiatives, and partnerships that support students and families beyond the classroom. In 2025, upper room participated in, community resource fairs and college and career readiness workshops in collaboration with local schools, churches, and nonprofit partners. These initiatives provided families with access to educational resources, health and wellness information, and academic enrichment opportunities, reaching an estimated 1,500 individuals throughout the year. The organization also engaged volunteers and community partners to expand outreach and sustain its mission of empowering families through education and support.
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,935,757.
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 2019 to 2020, from $3.7M to $2.0M (−45%).
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 95% · 2018 90% · 2019 85% · 2020 6% · 2021 27% · 2022 38% · 2023 9% · 2024 16% · 2025 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
17% of UPPER ROOM KC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (13% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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
Tonia Gilbert
CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 6 funders, grant income fell $438k → $50k.
5 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 43% 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 UPPER ROOM KC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 18 of 19 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
UPPER ROOM KC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 37% of grant income and the top three 67%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
75% 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 UPPER ROOM KC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 66% · 2018 46% · 2019 46% · 2020 42% · 2021 70% · 2022 45% · 2023 50% — 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
27% of UPPER ROOM KC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% 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
70% of UPPER ROOM KC's grant income comes from Missouri funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
UPPER ROOM KC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 1,767 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,767 recreation & sports nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like UPPER ROOM KC
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 Missouri
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
81%
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 UPPER ROOM KC: 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 UPPER ROOM KC?
- UPPER ROOM KC (Missouri) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,943,645 to it, the largest being Greater Kansas City Community Foundation ($1,097,875). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does UPPER ROOM KC have?
- IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $2,943,645 in grants to UPPER ROOM KC, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of UPPER ROOM KC?
- Greater Kansas City Community Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $1,097,875 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like UPPER ROOM KC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Missouri. 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 Upper Room Kc →
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 19 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