Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Mar 1987.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
94 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
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
42 people listed on the 990; $2.3M paid to officers and key staff.
Joshua Hale’s $586K as President and Chief Executive Officer is at the 93rd percentile of top reported officer pay among 3683 $10–100M education 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 · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joshua Hale | $585,588 | $559,793 | $539,967 | $498,042 | $474,883 | $517,916 |
| Rebecca Lindsay-Ryan | $292,828 | $279,482 | $268,704 | $210,567 | $195,808 | $195,085 |
| Malcolm Douglas | $254,776 | $255,478 | $243,698 | $211,616 | $198,344 | $203,951 |
| Thomas Zbierski | — | $216,185 | $212,474 | $202,248 | $188,558 | $193,880 |
| Amelia Drozda | $204,800 | $194,671 | $187,662 | $168,510 | $156,869 | $160,541 |
| John Moran | — | — | — | $106,997 | $185,418 | $195,152 |
| Daniel Bennett | $191,377 | $140,849 | — | — | — | — |
| Timothy Gallo | $171,161 | — | — | — | — | — |
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
Supports high-need, values-based schools in Chicago and Northwest Indiana through academic enrichment, teacher training, capital improvements, and student leadership programs.
Questions for Big Shoulders Fund
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School Operations
Distributed operating and capital grants to multiple schools in an effort to prevent school closures; also assisted schools in improving MARKETING/RECRUITING, building new external funding sources, improving school business operations, etc.
Student Scholarship Programs
Administered OVER90 distinct scholarship programs that include mentoring, enrichment and other support activities. 5,267 scholarships were awarded to 5,080 students at 120 elementary and high schools to enable them to attend non-public schools.
Academic Enrichment and Leadership Development
Big shoulders administers over 25 ongoing programs in 90 schools involving over 800 teachers and administrators to improve instruction and learning through leadership and professional development, professional learning communities and access to high quality curricula with focus on math, science, civics, and literacy.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2025 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY25 | End FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $13.3M | $3.8M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $100.0M | $105.2M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $29K | $20K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $150.1M | $152.1M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $19.3M | $22.7M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $130.8M | $129.4M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $29.4M | $29.4M | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $12.4M | $12.4M | ||
| Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3 | $0 | $0 | ||
| Benefits paid to or for membersLn 4 | $0 | $0 | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $1.8M | $1.1M | $430K | $216K |
| Pay of disqualified personsLn 6 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $5.8M | $4.5M | $578K | $657K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $172K | $138K | $19K | $15K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $572K | $443K | $66K | $62K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $502K | $378K | $65K | $59K |
| Management feesLn 11a | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $3K | $0 | $3K | $0 |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $89K | $2K | $86K | $0 |
| Lobbying feesLn 11d | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $0 | $0 | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $62K | $0 | $62K | $0 |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $2.1M | $2.0M | $122K | $9K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $132K | $93K | $27K | $12K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $421K | $182K | $186K | $52K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $373K | $190K | $88K | $95K |
| RoyaltiesLn 15 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $216K | $108K | $54K | $54K |
| TravelLn 17 | $491K | $452K | $14K | $25K |
| Travel and entertainment for public officialsLn 18 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| InterestLn 20 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Payments to affiliatesLn 21 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $9K | $5K | $2K | $2K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $33K | $18K | $7K | $7K |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $374K | $231K | $53K | $90K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $54.9M | $51.7M | $1.9M | $1.4M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest Viewing | $53.2M | $54.9M | −$1.7M | $129.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $84.8M | $75.9M | $8.9M | $130.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $65.7M | $58.9M | $6.7M | $112.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $62.9M | $52.6M | $10.3M | $106.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $61.7M | $42.1M | $19.6M | $95.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $31.8M | $33.2M | −$1.4M | $80.4M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $53,155,887 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 32 of 32 board members independent, 1 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $53,155,887 across 15 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $54,884,867 across 31 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $152,085,991 assets, 23 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $129,424,910 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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