Special Service for Groups Inc
Los Angeles, CA · EIN 95-1716914. Reported 226 grants totalling $69.7M to 66 organizations across tax years 2020-2024, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. For Special Service for Groups Inc, the IRS classifies it under human services rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE P840) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
- How spread out its giving is. 66 distinct organizations, with 25% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
- How much its list changes. 90% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 4 year-to-year transitions. That is well above the 56% median for grantmaking charities, and above the 67% median for private foundations. It describes the organizations it already funds, not whether it would consider a new one.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $88,639. Half of what it reported fell between $37,709 and $281,106; the smallest was $5,500 and the largest $5,032,124. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
107 of those grants were non-cash -- goods, property or services worth $33.9M in total. In-kind giving is real support but it is not a cheque.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abundant Blessings From Above Inc | Los Angeles, CA | $17.8M | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| La Global Care | Los Angeles, CA | $15.3M | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Connections for Women | Carson, CA | $5,982,732 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Motorcycle Riders for Homeless Parolees | Los Angeles, CA | $2,781,578 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Cambodian Association of America | Long Beach, CA | $2,384,417 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Pacific Asian Counseling Services | Los Angeles, CA | $1,825,973 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Shields for Families | Los Angeles, CA | $1,814,556 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Koreatown Youth and Community Center Inc | Los Angeles, CA | $1,685,560 | 6 | 5 | 2024 |
| Watts Labor Community Action Committee | Los Angeles, CA | $1,682,441 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Fair Opportunity for Change Inc | Carson, CA | $1,673,976 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Testimonial Community Love Center | Los Angeles, CA | $1,565,614 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Chinatown Service Center | Los Angeles, CA | $1,410,768 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Sustainable Futures Project | Los Angeles, CA | $1,398,955 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Ltsc Community Development Corporation | Los Angeles, CA | $1,039,636 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| New Reflections Inc | Los Angeles, CA | $862,064 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| South Asian Network Inc | Artesia, CA | $693,861 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Home at Last Community Development Corporation | Inglewood, CA | $688,786 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Homeboy Industries | Los Angeles, CA | $667,319 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Tarzana Treatment Centers Inc | Tarzana, CA | $566,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Trusted Caregiver and Consulting Services LLC | Cerritos, CA | $556,941 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Korean American Family Services Inc | Los Angeles, CA | $473,627 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Chaparral Medical Group Inc | Pomona, CA | $396,786 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Sanctuary of Hope | Los Angeles, CA | $396,468 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Search to Involve Pilipino Americans | Los Angeles, CA | $372,871 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| 1979 Legacy Corp | Los Angeles, CA | $310,006 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Southern California Health & Rehabilitation Program | Lynwood, CA | $303,113 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Friends Research Institute Inc | Baltimore, MD | $301,232 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Perris Valley Filipino-American Association Inc | Perris, CA | $278,088 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Shanti Orange County | Laguna Hills, CA | $275,606 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Akido Labs Inc | Venice, CA | $263,375 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| Wall-Las Memorias Project | Los Angeles, CA | $235,290 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Youstar Foundation | La Mirada, CA | $232,172 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Public Health Institute | Oakland, CA | $231,676 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County | Santa Ana, CA | $225,774 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Inland Chinese American Alliance | Riverside, CA | $218,385 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Translatin Coalition | Los Angeles, CA | $210,717 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| AIDS Services Foundation Orange County | Irvine, CA | $210,321 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Western Justice Center Foundation | Pasadena, CA | $199,852 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Pacific Clinics | Arcadia, CA | $152,668 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| The Healing Promise | Gardena, CA | $133,430 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Hope Child and Family Professional Clinical | Beverly Hills, CA | $130,494 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The California Conference for Equality and Justice Inc | Long Beach, CA | $128,613 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Champions of Caring Connections Inc | Compton, CA | $126,552 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Antelope Valley Partners for Health | Lancaster, CA | $111,726 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Anti-Defamation League | New York, NY | $103,438 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Commmunities Actively Living Independent & Free | Los Angeles, CA | $100,092 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Bienestar Human Services Inc | Los Angeles, CA | $99,312 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Moses O Edun Dba Strong Tower Services Inc | Eastvale, CA | $98,280 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Los Angeles Lgbt Center | Los Angeles, CA | $96,945 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights | Los Angeles, CA | $93,047 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| One in Long Beach Inc | Long Beach, CA | $90,606 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Love and Conflict Peacemaking Ministries | Alhambra, CA | $87,665 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| 1736 Family Crisis Center | Los Angeles, CA | $85,730 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Alianza Translatinx | Santa Ana, CA | $80,466 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California | Los Angeles, CA | $79,650 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Fathers and Mothers Who Care | Los Angeles, CA | $76,602 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center Inc | Van Nuys, CA | $73,607 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Young Serving All Mankind Our Alofa Samoa | San Bernardino, CA | $61,135 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Aapi Equity Alliance | Los Angeles, CA | $54,595 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Center for the Pacific Asian Family Inc | Los Angeles, CA | $50,323 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Upward Bound House | Santa Monica, CA | $43,330 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Community Partners | Los Angeles, CA | $36,600 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Onegeneration | Van Nuys, CA | $32,892 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Muslim Public Affairs Council Foundation | Los Angeles, CA | $29,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Go Rn LLC | Santa Ana, CA | $23,375 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Japanese Community Youth Council | San Francisco, CA | $13,410 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
60 of 66 (91%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.
- Abundant Blessings From Above Inc
Supportive services for families - La Global Care
Housing services for homeless families and individuals - Connections for Women Inc
Housing services for homeless women - Motorcycle Riders for Homeless Parolees
Housing services for homeless parolees - Tarzana Treatment Centers
Educational services for individuals - Watts Labor Community Action Committee
Homeless and supportive services for families
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 48 of 66 recipients we could match to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's, not ours -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 33 | $10.4M | $130,572 |
| 2021 | 29 | $10.5M | $134,566 |
| 2022 | 57 | $14.9M | $61,135 |
| 2023 | 57 | $15.7M | $58,133 |
| 2024 | 50 | $18.2M | $100,567 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
99% of its giving went to organizations in California. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.
Down to the city
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Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $88,639 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in California.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Special Service for Groups Inc's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Recipient classifications, the concentration and retention figures and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations from them, described in how we build this.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 28 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 22 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: 905 E 8TH Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90021.
EIN 95-1716914 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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