Form 990 for tax year 2025

Totals

Total revenue

$644,149

Total expenses

$12,701,887

Contributions and grants received

$651,282

Grants paid

$2,613,954

Program service revenue

$0

Investment income

-$19,646

Other revenue

$12,513

Total assets, end of year

$0

Total liabilities, end of year

$0

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$0

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$8,112,749

Management and general expenses

$3,609,172

Fundraising expenses

$979,966

Program service expenses (Part III)

$8,112,749

Program services were 63.9% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Mission and programs · 2025

• NARRATIVE POWER AND IMPACT (NPI) HOUSES RESEARCH-INFORMED STORYTELLING, DIGITAL ORGANIZING, NARRATIVE STRATEGY, MEDIA RELATIONS, AND RAPID RESPONSE COMMUNICATIONS THAT EDUCATE, ENGAGE AND ACTIVATE NATIVE AND ALLIED AUDIENCES AROUND KEY NATIVE ISSUES. THROUGH THIS PROGRAM, WE BUILD NARRATIVE POWER FOR NATIVE PEOPLES BY GENERATING, ACTIVATING, AND INVESTING IN NATIVE AUTHORED NARRATIVES AND CREATIVE CONTENT ACROSS MEDIA PLATFORMS TO GROW AND MOBILIZE MASS AUDIENCES WHO BETTER UNDERSTAND AND SUPPORT NATIVE PERSPECTIVES.IN 2025, WE COMPLETED A FULL WEBSITE REFRESH TO CENTER OUR HISTORICAL AND NEW RESEARCH. ILLUMINATIVE LAUNCHED INDIGENOUS HOUSE, A PROJECT TO INVEST DIRECTLY INTO CONTENT CREATORS TO DEVELOP AUDIENCES THAT ARE VALUE ALIGNED. THE PROJECT IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR EXPERIMENTATION, LEARNING, AND CREATIVITY, AS IT SEEKS TO REPLICATE SUCCESSFUL NARRATIVE ECOSYSTEM MODELS FOR VALUES ALIGNED CONTENT. BY LEVERAGING VALUES-BASED MESSAGING, WE CAN BUILD A NARRATIVE THAT RESONATES WITH A BROAD AUDIENCE AND CREATE A SENSE OF SHARED PURPOSE AND COMMONALITY THAT BRIDGES SOCIETAL DIVIDES. ILLUMINATIVE ALSO TRANSITIONED OUR MAIN SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS IN SERVICE OF THE LEGACY PROGRAM INDIGENOUS HOUSE.

  Expenses $3,797,087 · Grants $1,965,000

• POP CULTURE & MEDIA SEEKS TO ADVANCE INSTITUTIONAL EQUITY FOR NATIVE PEOPLES THROUGHOUT THE ENTERTAINMENT AND MEDIA ECOSYSTEM. THROUGH THIS PILLAR, WE EDUCATE AND ENGAGE INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS IN BEST PRACTICES FOR NATIVE REPRESENTATION, SUPPORT NATIVE CREATIVES THROUGH CAREER PATHWAY PROGRAMS, AND ENGAGE IN INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ADVOCACY, ACCOUNTABILITY AND CONTENT AND TALENT TRACKING TO CREATE STRUCTURAL CHANGE. ILLUMINATIVE WAS HONORED TO PRESENT THE TOP-LEVEL FINDINGS OF OUR RESEARCH AT THE NATIONAL CONGRESS OF AMERICAN INDIANS ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN OCTOBER 2025.

  Expenses $1,957,582 · Grants $240,954

• RESEARCH AND ACTION (R+A) PARTNERS WITH LEADING NATIVE SCHOLARS, INSTITUTIONS, AND ORGANIZATIONS TO INITIATE AND ACTIVATE ORIGINAL RESEARCH STUDIES FOR AND ABOUT NATIVE PEOPLES THAT INFORM ALL OTHER AREAS OF OUR WORK. WE ENSURE THAT NATIVE VOICES, PERSPECTIVES, AND EXPERIENCES ARE INCLUDED AS IMPORTANT AND VALUABLE SOURCES OF INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS, INQUIRY, AND EXAMINATION AND MAKE FINDINGS ACCESSIBLE AND ACTIONABLE FOR OUR COMMUNITIES AND ALLIES TO ADVANCE JUSTICE, EQUITY, AND SELF-DETERMINATION FOR NATIVE PEOPLES.IN 2025 OUR EFFORTS BROUGHT FORTH NEW RESEARCH. SPECIFICALLY, A NIELSEN SURVEY REFRESH, SURVEYING BOTH NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE FOCUS GROUPS AND SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM ANALYSIS ALONG WITH FOCUS GROUPS OF BOTH NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE US CITIZENS.

  Expenses $1,832,427 · Grants $73,000

• ADVOCACY AND ENGAGEMENT (A+E) LAYS THE GROUNDWORK FOR BROAD NARRATIVE AND CULTURAL CHANGE FOR NATIVE PEOPLE BY AMPLIFYING CONTEMPORARY NATIVE ISSUES AND VOICES THROUGH A BROAD NETWORK THAT SPANS BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF INDIAN COUNTRY. LEVERAGING RESEARCH AND ORGANIZING APPROACHES, A+E DEVELOPS CROSS-CUTTING CAMPAIGNS AND STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENTS TO ACTIVATE AND EDUCATE OUR NETWORK TO ADVOCATE FOR KEY NATIVE ISSUES IN MULTIPLE SPHERES (E.G., JUDICIAL, POLITICAL, MEDIA, HOLLYWOOD, CLIMATE JUSTICE) TO SHIFT ATTITUDES, BEHAVIORS, AND ACTIONS.

  Expenses $525,653 · Grants $335,000

As filed on the 2025 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

• AMPLIFIER FOUNDATION

  $425,000

  GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT

• SUNDANCE INSTITUTE

  $300,000

  GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT

• THE CENTER FOR NATIVE HEALTH INC

  $300,000

  GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT

• UNITED SOUTH & EASTERN TRIBES INC

  $300,000

  GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT

• NATIVE MOVEMENT

  $200,000

  GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT

• LONE WOLF DOCUMENTARY GROUP

  $160,000

  MEDIA PROJECT

• ALLIANCE FOR A JUST SOCIETY

  $150,000

  GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT

• COMMUNITY PARTNERS

  $105,000

  GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT

• BIG SKY FILM INSTITUTE

  $100,000

  GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT

• NATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FUND

  $75,000

  CHARITABLE DONATION - UNRESTRICTED

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Taxable family on this return

Schedule R Parts I, III and IV, as filed. These record ownership and control, not shared board members or money moved.

Assets distributed on this return

Schedule N, as filed: what the organization did with its assets when it liquidated or dissolved, or disposed of more than a quarter of them, and who received them. A recipient with an EIN is usually a successor organization; filers also list expenses such as legal fees here.

• PEEBLES KIDDER BERGIN & ROBINSON LLP

  $40,747

  Liquidation · REMAINING CASH BALANCE AT YEAR END · Dec 23, 2025

• AMALGAMATED CHARITABLE FOUNDATION

  $4,220,000

  Liquidation · TRADEMARKS ILLUMINATIVE, ILLUMINATIVE MEDIA AND INDIGENOUS HOUSE AND ASSOCIATED SOCIAL MEDIA, URLS, PRESENTATIONS AND OTHER TANGIBLE AND DIGITAL ASSETS. · Jan 14, 2026 · 501(C)(3)

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2025

Filed

19 February 2026

IRS schema version

2025v4.0

Source object

202600559349302300

Check it against the return as filed: the GivingTuesday Data Lake hosts a public copy of the original XML.

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