About Big Lakes Foundation
Solicit and facilitate donations and grants to support Big Lakes' mission of delivering quality services that promote choice, independence, and inclusion for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Focus Areas
Services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)Residential services and supportive housingWorkforce development and employment servicesCapital projects and facility maintenanceEndowment fundraising and sustainability
Who They Fund
nonprofit centers / service centers (facility operators)direct support staff (frontline employees)
Funding Style
capital infrastructure supportoperations sustainment (endowment/recurring funding)
About Big Lakes Foundation
Big Lakes Foundation Inc centers its grantmaking on one organization: Big Lakes Developmental Center Inc, with repeated support for capital improvements, operations, technology, wages, and endowment payments. The pattern points to a funder built around sustaining a service provider for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities rather than distributing many small external grants. Recent awards include $664,812 in 2025 for capital improvements and $460,000 in 2024 for center capital improvements, alongside support for ongoing operations. The same relationship also shows up in funding for technology upgrades and direct support staff wage enhancements, indicating attention to both facilities and the workforce that delivers services. In 2025, the foundation also made a $200,000 annual endowment payment for operations, continuing a line of recurring support that appears in multiple years. Its stated mission is to support quality services that promote choice, independence, and inclusion for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The grant record is local in scope, with nearly all grants going to recipients in Kansas.
What Big Lakes Foundation Funds
Capital support is a major theme. Big Lakes Foundation Inc gave $664,812 in 2025 to Big Lakes Developmental Center Inc for centers capital improvements, and followed with $460,000 in 2024 for center capital improvements. Another 2023 grant of $250,000 supported center capital expenditures, showing sustained attention to facilities and physical infrastructure. Operational capacity is another clear focus. In 2023, the foundation awarded $211,000 for center operations and technology upgrades, linking daily service delivery with modernization. Workforce support appears as well: a 2023 grant of $200,000 went to wage enhancements for direct support staff, tying funding to frontline retention and compensation. Endowment support is also part of the mix. A 2025 grant of $200,000 provided an annual endowment payment for support of operations, with prior annual endowment payments in 2024 and 2023 reinforcing that pattern.
How Big Lakes Foundation Gives
The recent grant record shows a high-dollar distribution, with p25 at $191,250, median at $205,500, and p75 at $302,500. That puts most awards in a fairly tight range, even as one capital grant in 2025 is much larger. The foundation’s giving is recurring rather than one-off: the same recipient appears across 2023, 2024, and 2025, with repeated endowment payments and multiple capital and operating awards. Big Lakes Foundation Inc functions as an internal or affiliated foundation tied to Big Lakes, and its active programs include a public annual giving campaign plus foundation-managed general support. The campaign data show that it accepts unsolicited gifts in that campaign context.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$2.3M
Total Assets
$4.2M
Total Revenue
$1.2M
Total Expenses
$966K
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $191K and $303K, with a median of $206K.
25th Percentile
$191K
Median
$206K
75th Percentile
$303K
Geographic Reach
Local2 states funded
About 88% of grants go to recipients in KS.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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