Blessings in a Backpack INC

Tax-deductible

Fort Wayne, IN501(c)(3)Since 2008Youth DevelopmentEIN 26-2627847Revenue $961K in FY2025

On file with the IRSblessingsindiana.org111 E Wayne St Ste 555, 46802-2600 · Fort Wayne, INTax-exempt since Aug 2008Publicly supported charity — 170(b)(1)(A)(vi)

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Blessings in a backback mobilizes communities, individuals, and resources to provide food on the weekends for school-aged children who might otherwise go hungry.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
88¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 3,471 volunteers and 2 employees.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

Before you give

FY2025 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2025
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2025, 1 tax year back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
4 of 6
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $77K a year · 18% of revenue · last 6 filings
Fine: a surplus in 4 of the last 6 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 6 filings
Spent on programs
88%
of spending
Looks good: 88% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$101K
to officers and key staff · 15% of spending
Top officer’s pay higher than 87% of similar orgs
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 15% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
Cash reserves
10 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 10.4 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
2
named funders · $40K
Fine: 2 funders name it on their filings; under 3.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$0
0% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 0% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
20
of 20 voting members
Looks good: 20 of 20 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$961K
+71% vs prior year
Spent
$662K
To programs
88%
Net assets
$571K
By yearFY2020–FY2025
Revenue
$961K
FY2025▲ +71%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$250K
FY2021$227K
FY2022$304K
FY2023$332K
FY2024$561K
FY2025$961K
Expenses
$662K
FY2025▲ +50%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$190K
FY2021$254K
FY2022$288K
FY2023$337K
FY2024$441K
FY2025$662K
Net assets
$571K
FY2025▲ +110%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$167K
FY2021$140K
FY2022$157K
FY2023$152K
FY2024$272K
FY2025$571K

From the FY2025 Form 990 · see the original

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Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Aug 2008.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

88 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 88% · $581K Management & general 8% · $52K Fundraising 4% · $28K

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

21 people listed on the 990; $101K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
Executive Director
$100,700Pt VII · Sec A
Vice President
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Treasurer
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Secretary
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Director
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Jama Ross’s $101K as Executive Director is at the 87th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1992 $100K–1M youth development nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 2 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Jama Ross$100,700$94,000$55,833———
Kryste Wallen——$14,875$51,000$50,000$50,000

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2Yes
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

Distributes donated food to feed hungry school-age children in Northeast Indiana.

Provided by the organization

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1 program · $581K · in their own filed words · FY2025
01

Provide nutrious food to children through schools in the fort wayne community in a thirty-six week period. We are proud of what we were able to accomplish in 2025, including:- blessings bags program which fed 3,750 children every friday with supplemental food bags to ensure they do not have to endure the weekends without food.

$581Kprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2025
Total grants receivedfrom 2 funders$40K

By the numbers

The FY2025 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$961K
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$990K
Investment incomeLn 3$4K
Money outPt IX
$662K
Ln 25
Programscol B$581K
Managementcol C$52K
Fundraisingcol D$28K
Owns and owesPt X
$571K
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$571K
Total assetsLn 16$571K
LiabilitiesLn 26$0
PeoplePt VI, VII
21
listed · VII A
PaidVII A1
Voting boardVI 1a20
IndependentVI 1b20
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$990K
Noncash giftsLn 1g$118K
Fundraising eventsLn 1c$185K
Investment incomeLn 3$4K
Total revenueLn 12$961K
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$94K
SavingsLn 2$476K
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$571K
Total assetsLn 16$571K
LiabilitiesLn 26$0
Net assetsLn 32$571K
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 52
VolunteersI 63,471
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aNo
Whistleblower policyVI 13No
Records policyVI 14No
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY25End FY25
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$272K$571K
Total assetsLn 16$272K$571K
LiabilitiesLn 26$0$0
Net assetsLn 32$272K$571K
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2$508K$508K
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$101K$53K$26K$21K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$9K$5K$2K$2K
Payroll taxesLn 10$8K$4K$2K$2K
Accounting feesLn 11c$3K$3K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$2K$368$183$1K
Office expensesLn 13$17K$1K$14K$2K
TravelLn 17$3K$3K
InsuranceLn 23$530$530
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$9K$9K
Total functional expensesLn 25$662K$581K$52K$28K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2025 Latest Viewing $961K$662K$299K$571K 990 PDF
FY2024 $561K$441K$120K$272K 990 PDF
FY2023 $332K$337K−$5K$152K 990 PDF
FY2022 $304K$288K$17K$157K 990 PDF
FY2021 $227K$254K−$27K$140K 990 PDF
FY2020 $250K$190K$59K$167K 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $960,891 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $485,406$990,463
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $0$0
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $1,883$4,365
I-11 Other revenuePrior year $73,606−$33,937
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $560,895$960,891
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $297,816$508,425
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $101,241$118,488
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $42,251$34,625
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $441,308$661,538
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year $119,587$299,353
Part VI · Governance 20 of 20 board members independent, 4 to look at
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body20
VI-1b Independent voting members20
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsYes
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyNo
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyNo
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyNo
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $960,891 across 7 lines filed
VIII-1c Fundraising events$185,360
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$805,103
VIII-1g Noncash contributions (included above)$118,275
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$990,463
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $4,365$4,365
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising eventsExcluded from tax −$33,937−$33,937
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $0 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax −$29,572$960,891
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $661,538 across 10 lines filed
IX-2 Grants to domestic individualsPrograms $508,425$508,425
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $52,920 · Management $26,499 · Fundraising $21,281$100,700
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $4,923 · Management $2,465 · Fundraising $1,979$9,367
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $4,210 · Management $2,344 · Fundraising $1,867$8,421
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $2,930$2,930
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $368 · Management $183 · Fundraising $1,284$1,835
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $1,111 · Management $13,884 · Fundraising $2,021$17,016
IX-17 TravelManagement $2,979$2,979
IX-23 InsuranceManagement $530$530
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $9,335$9,335
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $581,292 · Management $51,814 · Fundraising $28,432$661,538
Part X · Balance sheet $570,934 assets, 7 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $31,432$94,434
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $240,149$476,500
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $271,581$570,934
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $0$0
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $271,581$570,934
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $271,581$570,934
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $271,581$570,934
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $570,934 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$960,891
XI-2 Total expenses$661,538
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$299,353
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$271,581
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$570,934

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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