Illinois · Nonprofit
WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP
WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP (Illinois) receives grants from 215 organizations whose IRS filings report $36,769,242 to it, the largest being GALASHIELS FUND LTD ($19,362,790). 116 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $15M
- Funders on record
- 215
- Grants received
- $37M
- Net assets
- $7.3M
What World Bicycle Relief Nfp does
Mission
World bicycle relief mobilizes communities in rural regions around the world to thrive with life changing bicycles. (cont'd in schedule o)
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Program activitiesworld bicycle relief addresses mobility poverty by expanding access to reliable, affordable buffalo bicycles and developing sustainable mobility ecosystems through mechanic training, spare parts, repair services, and local sales and support networks. Wbr works with communities, governments, nonprofit organizations, development agencies, and other partners to integrate purpose-built buffalo bicycles into education, healthcare, livelihood, and community development initiatives. These efforts help people overcome distance and transportation barriers and expand access to essential services and economic opportunity. (continued in schedule o)
$7,290,372 spentof which $5,715,400 as grants78% of program spendingProduct developmentworld bicycle relief designs, tests, and continuously improves purpose-built buffalo bicycles to meet the demands of rural communities. Product development prioritizes durability, safety, affordability, load-carrying capacity, ease of maintenance, and reliable performance in challenging terrain. Wbr draws on research, field testing, and feedback from riders, mechanics, communities, and partners to improve the buffalo bicycle, spare parts, and related mobility solutions. (continued in schedule o)
$1,478,891 spent16% of program spendingMonitoring and evaluationworld bicycle relief consistently measures the impact of bicycles in both wbr-led and partner-led mobility solutions. We apply a rigorous monitoring and evaluation framework to ensure that our interventions are evidence-based, adaptive, and responsive to the needs of the communities in which we work. Key metrics include changes in participant access to healthcare, education, and economic opportunities and over the long term, improvements in income, empowerment, and household resilience.in 2024, wbr and research partner idinsight completed the organization's first randomized controlled trial (rct), focused specifically on the impact of bicycles on adult livelihoods. Conducted in mumbwa district, zambia, the study found that access to a buffalo bicycle led to significant improvements in income-generating activity, time savings, and access to markets and essential services particularly for women. This landmark evaluation validates bicycles as a high-impact, scalable approach to addressing mobility poverty in rural regions.by leveraging insights from both quantitative research and ongoing community feedback, wbr continuously improves its approach, product…
$595,912 spent6% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $9,365,175.
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 $6.8M to $9.9M (+46%).
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 2% · 2023 4% · 2024 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
97% of WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (79% 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
David Neiswander
CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 48 funders to 77 funders, grant income rose $3.4M → $5.1M.
35 of 215 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 25% 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 WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 215 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
WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP leans on a few funders — its largest provides 53% of grant income and the top three 67%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
26% 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 WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 73% · 2018 69% · 2019 62% · 2020 61% · 2021 57% · 2022 56% · 2023 49% — 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
41% of WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 54% 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
WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP draws 96% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 36 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $9.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 19 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
WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP's funding base is broadening — from 48 funders to 77 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 37 public safety & disaster nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.4M on record.
- Agency for International Development$1.4M
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 WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP
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
64% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
67%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 31 states
Part of a family of 20 related entities
- World Bicycle Relief - Australia · exempt
- World Bicycle Relief - Zambia · exempt
- World Bicycle Relief Deutschland Gmbh · exempt
- World Bicycle Relief Malawi · exempt
- World Bicycle Relief UK · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP: 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 WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP?
- WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP (Illinois) receives grants from 215 organizations whose IRS filings report $36,769,242 to it, the largest being GALASHIELS FUND LTD ($19,362,790). 116 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP have?
- IRS filings report 215 organizations giving $36,769,242 in grants to WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP, 116 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP?
- GALASHIELS FUND LTD is the largest funder on record, with $19,362,790 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF NFP 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 215 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