Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Oct 2010.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
60 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
5 people listed on the 990; $481K paid to officers and key staff.
Chris D Ellis’s $413K as President/Ce is at the 98th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1690 $1–10M philanthropy & grantmaking 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 · 4 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris D Ellis | $412,684 | $342,626 | — | — | — |
| Chris Ellis | — | — | $258,295 | $260,010 | $228,271 |
| Catherine Ellis | — | — | $142,432 | $145,316 | $105,827 |
| Catherine D Ellis | $139,737 | $138,692 | — | — | — |
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
Helps low-income high school graduates attend college.
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Educational scholarships to students who submit written applications to the foundation. A personal interview with foundation personnel is required for all potential scholarship recipients. Recipients must provide proof of enrollment and proof of grades in order to maintain the scholarship.
Assistance is provided to the beacon inc which is located in fort scott kansas. The beacon serves low income families in bourbon county by providing food and other basic necessities.
Donations to united we and university academy which are not for profit educational organizations in the kansas city missouri metro area.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2024 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY24 | End FY24 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $396K | $319K |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $18.4M | $21.5M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $598K | $603K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $21.4M | $24.0M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $26K | $31K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $21.4M | $24.0M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $44K | $44K | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $2.1M | $2.1M | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $468K | $468K | ||
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $530K | $530K | ||
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $57K | $57K | ||
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $53K | $53K | ||
| Management feesLn 11a | $9K | $9K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $8K | $8K | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $89K | $89K | ||
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $8K | $8K | ||
| Office expensesLn 13 | $13K | $13K | ||
| Information technologyLn 14 | $28K | $28K | ||
| OccupancyLn 16 | $33K | $33K | ||
| TravelLn 17 | $45K | $45K | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $73K | $73K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $2K | $2K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $23K | $23K | ||
| All other expensesLn 24e | $165 | $165 | ||
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $3.6M | $2.1M | $1.4M | $0 |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $5.2M | $4.1M | $1.0M | $25.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 Viewing | $3.9M | $3.6M | $330K | $24.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $5.9M | $3.3M | $2.6M | $21.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $3.7M | $2.9M | $836K | $20.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $3.0M | $2.7M | $381K | $20.3M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2024 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $3,909,229 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 5 of 5 board members independent, 1 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $3,909,229 across 7 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $3,578,745 across 18 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $23,999,694 assets, 13 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $23,968,694 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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