Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Aug 2019.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
64 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
23 people listed on the 990; $52K paid to officers and key staff.
Holly Lewis’s $77K as Executive Director is at the 68th percentile of top reported officer pay among 2168 $100K–1M human services 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
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holly Lewis | $77,462 | $69,050 | $55,164 | $53,940 | $52,400 | — |
| Heather Whinna | $50,695 | $56,544 | $55,165 | $53,940 | $52,400 | $52,202 |
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
Transforms passive compassion into immediate assistance through art.
Questions for Letters Charity
Your first name shows with your question. Letters Charity answers here, for everyone.
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Letters to santa we surprised 5 families living in poverty in chicago. Each family received clothing, a computer for each child in the house, a tablet for the head of household, basic tool kit, family board game, everything on their christmas list plus an unconditional cash grant of 10,000.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2020 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $61K | $82K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $166K | $136K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $46K | $47K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $120K | $89K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $19K | $19K | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $68K | $68K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $104K | $57K | $23K | $24K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $26 | $26 | ||
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $17K | $9K | $5K | $3K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $9K | $5K | $2K | $2K |
| Management feesLn 11a | $14K | $14K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $2K | $353 | $1K | $124 |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $3K | $65 | $3K | |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $229 | $229 | ||
| Office expensesLn 13 | $139 | $33 | $106 | |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $5K | $803 | $139 | $4K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $2K | $1K | $887 | $288 |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $6K | $692 | $1K | $4K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $250K | $161K | $34K | $55K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $690K | $722K | −$32K | $127K | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $475K | $411K | $64K | $159K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $383K | $365K | $18K | $95K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $369K | $396K | −$27K | $77K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $307K | $292K | $16K | $104K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 Viewing | $219K | $250K | −$31K | $89K | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $218,694 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 23 of 23 board members independent, 3 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $218,694 across 4 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $249,771 across 14 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $135,617 assets, 10 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $88,696 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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