Illinois · Nonprofit
WE GROW DREAMS INC
WE GROW DREAMS INC (Illinois) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $157,164 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($103,800). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 74% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $367k
- Funders on record
- 7
- Grants received
- $157k
- Net assets
- $305k
What We Grow Dreams Inc does
Mission
To provide people with disabilities the opportunity to lead fulfilling lives and to train and work in a supportive, safe and caring environment while producing and providing products and services to the community.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
We grow dreams, inc has provided jobs to young adults with disabilities. These young adults have had the opportunity to work directly with the public as opposed to performing behind the scenes tasks. This interaction gives the workers a stronger sense of independence in their lives.
$275,073 spent$278,128 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $275,073.
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 $656k to $775k (+18%).
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: 2020 3% · 2021 17%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
49% of WE GROW DREAMS INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (54% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Gregg Bettcher
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $500 → $20k.
3 of 7 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 74% 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 WE GROW DREAMS INC’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
WE GROW DREAMS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 66% of grant income and the top three 93%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
74% 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 WE GROW DREAMS INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 54% · 2019 79% · 2020 44% · 2021 57% · 2022 56% · 2023 99% — 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
74% of WE GROW DREAMS 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 $40k that is directly attributable, 91% of it comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $117k 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
WE GROW DREAMS INC receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $157k to it.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,276 employment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like WE GROW DREAMS 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
63% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
91%
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 WE GROW DREAMS 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 WE GROW DREAMS INC?
- WE GROW DREAMS INC (Illinois) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $157,164 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($103,800). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 74% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does WE GROW DREAMS INC have?
- IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $157,164 in grants to WE GROW DREAMS INC, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WE GROW DREAMS INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $103,800 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WE GROW DREAMS 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.
Play a game about who funds We Grow Dreams →
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 7 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