Mission: Can Play brings adapted and no cost recreational programs to our communities by removing barriers to Play.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
79¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
$146K paid to officers and key staff.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · Pay: Part VII

Before you give

FY2023 · 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 $47K a year · 8% of revenue · last 6 filings
Fine: a surplus in 4 of the last 6 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 6 filings
Spent on programs
79%
of spending
Looks good: 79% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$146K
to officers and key staff · 27% of spending
Worth a look: pay to officers and key staff is 27% of spending; over 20%.
Pt VII · Sec A
15 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 15.1 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
2
named funders · $15K
Fine: 2 funders name it on their filings; under 3.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$14K
2% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 2% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
10
of 10 voting members
Looks good: 10 of 10 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$671K
+3% vs prior year
Spent
$538K
To programs
79%
Net assets
$828K
By yearFY2020–FY2025
Revenue
$671K
FY2023▲ +3%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$598K
FY2021$526K
FY2022$655K
FY2023$671K
FY2024$519K
FY2025$461K
Expenses
$538K
FY2023▲ +7%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$436K
FY2021$452K
FY2022$505K
FY2023$538K
FY2024$706K
FY2025$512K
Net assets
$828K
FY2023▲ +22%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$418K
FY2021$540K
FY2022$678K
FY2023$828K
FY2024$653K
FY2025$479K

From the FY2023 Form 990 · see the original

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You’re viewing the FY2023 filing — not the latest on file. See the latest (FY2025) →

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Feb 2013.

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

Where the money goes

79 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 79% · $423K Management & general 13% · $73K Fundraising 8% · $42K

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

13 people listed on the 990; $146K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
$79,000Pt VII · Sec A
Co-Founder
$67,258Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Director
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Past Chairpe
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Melissa Clarke-Wharff’s $84K as Co-Founder is at the 86th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1017 $100K–1M recreation & sports 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 · 3 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Melissa Clarke-Wharff$83,500$79,000$79,000$80,000$74,000$68,496
Dylan Declerck Left Dec 2024—$69,257————
Dylan Declerck——$67,258$67,582$63,239—

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.

See Can Play executive salaries →

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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 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

Offers adaptive sports for children and adults with disabilities, illness, or challenges to play at full speed.

Questions for Can Play

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Provided by the organization

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1 program · $423K · in their own filed words · FY2023
01

Can play provides opportunities for play to thousands of children and adults each year through our adapted and no-cost programming. Our programs are built with a goal of showing our participants, their families, our communities and the world that no matter your limitations, everybody can play.

$423Kprogram 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$15K

By the numbers

The FY2023 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$671K
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$388K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$146K
Other incomeLn 4–11$111K
Money outPt IX
$538K
Ln 25
Programscol B$423K
Managementcol C$73K
Fundraisingcol D$42K
Owns and owesPt X
$828K
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$676K
Total assetsLn 16$842K
LiabilitiesLn 26$14K
PeoplePt VI, VII
13
listed · VII A
PaidVII A2
Voting boardVI 1a10
IndependentVI 1b10
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$388K
Government grantsLn 1e$500
Noncash giftsLn 1g$2K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$146K
Investment incomeLn 3$26K
Other incomeLn 4–11$111K
Gains on assetsLn 7$15K
Total revenueLn 12$671K
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$190K
SavingsLn 2$486K
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$676K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$127K
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$39K
Total assetsLn 16$842K
LiabilitiesLn 26$14K
Net assetsLn 32$828K
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 58
VolunteersI 6375
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14No
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY23End FY23
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$553K$676K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$111K$127K
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$30K$39K
Total assetsLn 16$696K$842K
LiabilitiesLn 26$17K$14K
Net assetsLn 32$678K$828K
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$155K$124K$15K$15K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$144K$115K$14K$14K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$3K$2K$251$251
Other employee benefitsLn 9$6K$5K$600$600
Payroll taxesLn 10$23K$18K$2K$2K
Accounting feesLn 11c$12K$12K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$35K$29K$4K$2K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$10K$1K$8K$95
Office expensesLn 13$4K$511$3K$37
OccupancyLn 16$51K$44K$6K$889
TravelLn 17$9K$8K$542$53
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$13K$13K
InsuranceLn 23$16K$14K$2K$816
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$55K$50K$4K$1K
All other expensesLn 24e$4K−$1K$1K$4K
Total functional expensesLn 25$538K$423K$73K$42K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2025 Latest $461K$512K−$51K$479K 990 PDF
FY2024 $519K$706K−$187K$653K 990 PDF
FY2023 Viewing $671K$538K$133K$828K 990 PDF
FY2022 $655K$505K$150K$678K 990 PDF
FY2021 $526K$452K$74K$540K 990 PDF
FY2020 $598K$436K$162K$418K 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support O · Explanations
See the full FY2023 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $671,468 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $368,634$387,693
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $134,331$146,261
I-10 Investment incomePrior year −$1,119$26,364
I-11 Other revenuePrior year $153,166$111,150
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $655,012$671,468
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paid$0
I-14 Benefits paid to members$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $330,956$330,486
I-16a Professional fundraising fees$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $173,596$207,596
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $504,552$538,082
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year $150,460$133,386
Part VI · Governance 10 of 10 board members independent, 1 to look at
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body10
VI-1b Independent voting members10
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyNo
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $671,468 across 10 lines filed
VIII-1a Federated campaigns$59,846
VIII-1e Government grants$500
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$327,347
VIII-1g Noncash contributions (included above)$1,849
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$387,693
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $146,261$146,261
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $11,139$11,139
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsRelated to mission $15,225$15,225
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising eventsExcluded from tax $111,150$111,150
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $161,486 · Excluded from tax $122,289$671,468
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $538,082 across 15 lines filed
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $123,984 · Management $15,499 · Fundraising $15,499$154,982
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $115,355 · Management $14,420 · Fundraising $14,420$144,195
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $2,008 · Management $251 · Fundraising $251$2,510
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $4,797 · Management $600 · Fundraising $600$5,997
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $18,242 · Management $2,280 · Fundraising $2,280$22,802
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $11,683$11,683
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $28,725 · Management $4,153 · Fundraising $1,730$34,608
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $1,330 · Management $8,079 · Fundraising $95$9,504
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $511 · Management $3,102 · Fundraising $37$3,650
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $44,026 · Management $5,802 · Fundraising $889$50,717
IX-17 TravelPrograms $8,230 · Management $542 · Fundraising $53$8,825
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $13,262$13,262
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $13,867 · Management $1,632 · Fundraising $816$16,315
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $50,120 · Management $3,505 · Fundraising $1,395$55,020
IX-24e All other expensesPrograms −$1,184 · Management $1,028 · Fundraising $4,168$4,012
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $423,273 · Management $72,576 · Fundraising $42,233$538,082
Part X · Balance sheet $841,828 assets, 11 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $159,138$189,812
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $393,709$485,784
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $30,276$38,829
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $110,943$127,403
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $695,534$841,828
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $17,325$13,773
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $17,325$13,773
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $678,209$778,055
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictions$50,000
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $678,209$828,055
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $695,534$841,828
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $828,055 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$671,468
XI-2 Total expenses$538,082
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$133,386
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$678,209
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$16,460
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$828,055

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2023 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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