The Ability Experience
Charlotte, NC · EIN 58-1588777. Reported 54 grants totalling $504,537 to 40 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. The IRS has no activity classification on file for this one, so we cannot tell you whether it is a community foundation or a single-institution support fund. The recipient list below is the better guide.
- How spread out its giving is. 40 distinct organizations, with 10% 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. 31% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 2 year-to-year transitions. That is below the 56% median for grantmaking charities, and well below 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 $7,500. Half of what it reported fell between $7,000 and $10,000; the smallest was $5,000 and the largest $50,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Buddies International Inc | Miami, FL | $50,500 | 3 | 2 | 2024 |
| Texas Christian University | Fort Worth, TX | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Childrens Association for Maximum Potential Inc | San Antonio, TX | $32,000 | 3 | 2 | 2024 |
| Easter Seals Washington | Seattle, WA | $30,000 | 4 | 3 | 2024 |
| Life Has No Boundaries Co | Lafayette, IN | $21,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Rochester Rotary Charitable Trusts Inc | Rochester, NY | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Civitan Foudation Inc | Phoenix, AZ | $17,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Clemson University Outdoor Lab | Pendleton, SC | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Easter Seals Alabama Inc | Jacksons Gap, AL | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Easter Seals Colorado | Lakewood, CO | $14,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Golden Heart Ranch | Manhattan Bch, CA | $14,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Down Home Ranch Inc | Elgin, TX | $13,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Quiet Waters Ministries Inc | Canton, MS | $13,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Easter Seals Connecticut Inc | Hartford, CT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Miracle League of East Alabama Inc | Opelika, AL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Exceptional Foundation of East Alabama Inc | Auburn, AL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Baddour Center Inc | Senatobia, MS | $9,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Camp for All Foundation | Houston, TX | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Via Rehabilitation Services Inc | Redwood City, CA | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Camp Twin Lakes Inc | Atlanta, GA | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rotary Camp for Children With Special Needs Inc | New Franklin, OH | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Stepping Stones Inc | Cincinnati, OH | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Arc of Tippecanoe County Inc | Lafayette, IN | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Abilityfirst | Pasadena, CA | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Arc of New Jersey Inc | West Deptford, NJ | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Camp Harkness Foundation Inc | Waterford, CT | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Camp High Hopes | Sioux City, IA | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Camp Idlewild of Florida Inc | Land O Lakes, FL | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Camp Riley at Bradford Woods | Martinsville, IN | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Camp Summit Inc | Dallas, TX | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Easter Seals Central Ca | Fresno, CA | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Fish Tales | Pinconning, MI | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Life Concepts Inc | Orlando, FL | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Tennessee Jaycee Foundation Inc | Chattanooga, TN | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Why Not Now Inc | Farmington, IL | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Woodlands Foundation Inc | Wexford, PA | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Best Buddies | Knoxville, TN | $6,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| US Coachways | Holmdel, NJ | $5,269 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Mobilityworks Morrisville | Morrisville, NC | $5,268 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Camp Big Sky | Princeville, IL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
10 of 40 (25%) received money in more than one year over the 4 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.
- Kinder Frogs
PROVIDE A DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT FOR CHILDREN WITH DOWN SYNDROME AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS - Best Buddies of Arizona
TO PROMOTE THE INCLUSIVITY OF PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES THROUGH ON-TO-ONE FRIENDSHIPS, INTEGRATED EMPLOYMENT, AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS. - Camp Camp
PROVIDE RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH MEDICAL CONDITIONS OR DISABILITIES - Camp Ascca
TO HELP ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES AND/OR HEALTH IMPAIRMENTS ACHIEVE EQUALITY, DIGNITY, AND MAXIMUM INDEPENDENCE - Rocky Mountain Village Camp
TO CREATE A PLACE WHERE EVERY CHILD AND ADULT, REGARDLESS OF ABILITY, CAN EXPERIENCE ADVENTURE, FRIENDSHIP, AND INDEPENDENCE IN THE BEAUTIFUL ROCKY MOUNTAINS - Life Has No Boundries
TO FOSTER INDEPENDENCE AS WELL AS FRIENDSHIPS IN ADDITION TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH INTELLECTUAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 28 of 40 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 | 1 | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| 2022 | 10 | $87,500 | $7,750 |
| 2023 | 11 | $135,000 | $7,500 |
| 2024 | 32 | $277,037 | $7,000 |
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
22% of its giving went to organizations in Texas. 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.
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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 $7,500 -- 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 Texas.
- 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 The Ability Experience'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.
Address of record on the latest return: 3701 Arco Corporate Drive Ste 500, Charlotte, NC, 28273.
EIN 58-1588777 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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