How do I find funders for a large education nonprofit?

Start with the funders most focused on large education organizations, currently Gothic Corporation, The Big 12 Conference Inc, The Big Ten Conference Inc. Donor-advised funds and mega-funds are excluded, so these are funders that genuinely back organizations your size, not pass-through accounts.

How much grant money goes to large education organizations?

$165.9B reached 6,156 large education organizations from 55,749 funders. Money parked in the regranting layer is netted out.

How recent is this data?

It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings across recent fiscal years. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.

Causes · Education · large

Who funds large education organizations

The most committed funder, Gothic Corporation, gives large education organizations 5.6× the national rate. Large education institutions draw a deep funder base, 9 on average, so the competition for their attention is intense.

$165.9B

granted

6,156

organizations

55,749

funders

The short version

55,749 funders gave $165.9B to 6,156 large education organizations (large ($10M and up)) across recent IRS filings.
The most focused funder is Gothic Corporation, giving 5.6× the national rate to large education organizations.
The largest non-DAF funder is Gothic Corporation, at $15.9B.
The large education organization drawing the most is Duke University, at $18.1B.

Funders most focused on large education organizations

Not the biggest checks, the most committed: each gives this size and cause an outsized share of its budget against the national rate, shrunk toward that rate so a small specialist needs real volume to rank.

Gothic Corporation5.6×$15.9B · 100% of its giving The Big 12 Conference Inc5.6×$695M · 100% of its giving The Big Ten Conference Inc5.6×$588M · 100% of its giving Pac-12 Conference5.6×$495M · 100% of its giving Spelman College Special Ventures Fund Inc5.6×$453M · 100% of its giving U of O Foundation Supporting Organization5.6×$406M · 100% of its giving University at Buffalo Foundation Inc5.6×$563M · 100% of its giving Aaa Scholarship Foundation Inc5.6×$346M · 100% of its giving

Largest funders by dollars

Real grantmakers giving the most to large education organizations (donor-advised and mega-funds excluded).

1Gothic Corporation$15.9B 2Gates Foundation$4.7B 3Lilly Endowment Inc$3.0B 4Atlantic Coast Conference$2.3B 5Educational Credit Management Corporation$1.9B 6The Bloomberg Family Foundation Inc$1.7B 7National Collegiate Athletic Association$1.2B 8Upmc Group$904M

Large education organizations that draw the most

Sized by grant dollars received. Pick one to see exactly who funds it.

6,146 other large education organizations$122B

Duke University$18B

Questions and answers

How do I find funders for a large education nonprofit?: Start with the funders most focused on large education organizations, currently Gothic Corporation, The Big 12 Conference Inc, The Big Ten Conference Inc. Donor-advised funds and mega-funds are excluded, so these are funders that genuinely back organizations your size, not pass-through accounts.
What counts as a large organization here?: Size is the organization's median total revenue across its filings: large ($10M and up). Cause is where each grant is placed by its stated purpose and the recipient's mission, falling back to the recipient's IRS activity category where that is unclear.
How much grant money goes to large education organizations?: $165.9B reached 6,156 large education organizations from 55,749 funders. Money parked in the regranting layer is netted out.
How recent is this data?: It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings across recent fiscal years. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions

grants reported with no recipient in the public record

The regranting layer

51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer

The DAF merry-go-round

$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds

The camps

funders cluster by geography, not ideology

By state

where grant money is based, and what stays home

State money flows

the interactive map of money crossing state lines

Size is median total revenue; each grant is placed by its stated purpose and the recipient's mission, falling back to the recipient's IRS activity category where that is unclear. Read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file XML across recent fiscal years, among (c)(3) funders and recipients resolved by EIN, with the regranting layer netted out. Source: IRS Form 990 downloads.