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City Forward Collective Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

City Forward Collective Inc

Cfc's mission is to secure the future of milwaukee and its institutions, economy, and quality of life by ending educational inequity and ensuring every child has the opportunity to attend a high-quality school.

$480k
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$3.5MPublic Benefit$105kHuman Services$71kReligion$21kEnvironment$15kHealth$15k
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $30k
  • $50k–250k9 grants · $450k
$50,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$8.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ROCKETSHIP PUBLIC SCHOOLS$50,000
UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER$50,000
ST MARCUS LUTHERAN SCHOOL$50,000
ST AUGUSTINE PREPARATORY ACADEMY$50,000
DR HOWARD FULLER COLLEGIATE ACADEMY$50,000
ST ANTHONY SCHOOL$50,000
LUMIN SCHOOLS$50,000
MILWAUKEE COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL$50,000
NOTRE DAME MIDDLE SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE$50,000
GREENHOUSE E3$30,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY20–25, $121k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER: $50k → 17%UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER: $50k → 17%UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER: $21k → 17%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

55%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.1M · 14 repeat orgs$1.7M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +60% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

14 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
16

Total granted

$2.1M
$1.6M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+60%
+4%

Still filing today

57%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $80k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementHousing & ShelterRecreation & SportsOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • ST AUGUSTINE PREPARATORY ACADEMY INC
    5× · 2020–2025 · $374k · revenue +342%
  • ROCKETSHIP EDUCATION
    4× · 2020–2023 · $330k · revenue +60%
  • MS
    MCPREPARATORY SCHOOL OF WISCONSIN INC
    4× · 2020–2025 · $160k · revenue +21%

Funded once

  • VS
    VARIOUS SCHOOLS
    one grant, 2021 · $995k
  • CA
    CFC ACTION FUND INC
    one grant, 2024 · $105k
  • BE
    BELLWETHER EDUCATION PARTNERS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $100k · revenue +27%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Central City Cyberschool of Milwaukee Inc

A charter school providing motivation to inner city children to promote a successful future

Education
2
The University School of Milwaukee Corporation

University school of milwaukee cultivates excellence in learning, leadership, and citizenship for prekindergarten through 12th grade students. students are engaged, known, and valued within our passionate independent school community…

Education
3
Mastery Charter High School

All students learn the academic and personal skills they need to be truly prepared for postsecondary success and able to pursue their dreams.

Education
4
One City Schools Inc

Our mission is to seed a new model of public education that ensures young children are on track to succeed in a college or career preparatory program from birth through high school graduation.

Human Services
5
College Prep Elementary

To prepare scholars to build character and accept of the value of various cultures

Education
6
The University of Chicago Charter School Corporation

To Prepare Students for Success in Four-Year Colleges.

Education
7
Washington Leadership Academy Public Charter School

Wla combines best practices in teaching and learning, with the latest in educational technology to create an unparalleled high school experience. students will graduate from wla prepared for college, career, and lives of public leadership.

Education
8
Milwaukee Math and Science Academy Inc

The mission of milwaukee math and science academy, inc. is to create a learning community in which:-teachers, parents and students work together to develop young people who are confident and achieve academic excellence in a powerful…

Education
9
Downtown Montessori Academy Inc

To create a montessori environment where the child's early experiences with learning will help him or her to become a self-confident, competent, cooperative adult.

Education
10
Sonoma Charter School

Sonoma charter school seeks to achieve academic excellence through engaged learning in a setting that involves students, teachers, and parents.

Education
11
South Shore Charter School

The mission of south shore charter school is to cultivate students the tenacity, integrity, and curiosity needed to become innovative and socially responsible leaders, ready to face and solve the ever-changing challenges facing our…

Education
12
Madison Academy Inc

Private school dedicated to education of children from pk4 through grade 12.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Milwaukee Science Education Consortium Inc; the most unlike its peers is Serve Incorporated. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

20 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 20 of the 32 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
20/20
Grantees still filing
13/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

VARIOUS SCHOOLS: $995,096 · OtherVARIOUS SCHOOLSST MARCUS LUTHERAN CHURCH: $362,600 · OtherST MARCUS LUTHERAN CHURCHST ANTHONY CONGREGATION: $100,000 · OtherNOTRE DAME SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE INC: $100,000 · OtherNATIVITY JESUIT ACADEMY INC: $99,000 · OtherLUTHERAN URBAN MISSION INITIATIVE INC: $86,303 · OtherUNITED STATES CATHOLIC CONFERENCE: $74,095 · Other+10 more: $184,484 · Other+10 moreST AUGUSTINE PREPARATORY ACADEMY INC: $374,034 · EducationST AUGUSTINE PREPARATORY ACADEMY INCROCKETSHIP EDUCATION: $330,000 · EducationROCKETSHIP EDUCATIONMCPREPARATORY SCHOOL OF WISCONSIN INC: $160,000 · EducationMCPREPARATORY SCHOOL OF WISCONSIN INCDR HOWARD FULLER COLLEGIATE ACADEMY INC: $140,440 · EducationDR HOWARD FULLER COLLEGIATE ACADEMY INCCFC ACTION FUND INC: $105,000 · EducationCFC ACTION FUND INCBELLWETHER EDUCATION PARTNERS INC: $100,000 · EducationBELLWETHER EDUCATION PARTNERS INCTHE MILWAUKEE SCIENCE EDUCATION CONSORTIUM INC: $94,918 · EducationTHE MILWAUKEE SCIENCE EDUCATION CONSORTIUM IN…CARMEN HIGH SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INC: $70,000 · EducationHMONG AMERICAN PEACE ACADEMY LTD: $68,000 · Education+2 more: $71,300 · EducationUNITED COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $121,000 · Human ServicesSERVE INCORPORATED: $50,000 · Community ImprovementNEXT DOOR FOUNDATION INC: $45,000 · Recreation & SportsGreenhouse E3: $30,000 · Housing & Shelter
Other$2,001,578Education$1,513,692Human Services$121,000Community Improvement$50,000Recreation & Sports$45,000Housing & Shelter$30,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetST AUGUSTINE PREPARATORY ACADEMY INC: $374,034 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetROCKETSHIP EDUCATION: $330,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetMCPREPARATORY SCHOOL OF WISCONSIN INC: $160,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetDR HOWARD FULLER COLLEGIATE ACADEMY INC: $140,440 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetUNITED COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $121,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetBELLWETHER EDUCATION PARTNERS INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE MILWAUKEE SCIENCE EDUCATION CONSORTIUM INC: $94,918 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetCARMEN HIGH SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INC: $70,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHMONG AMERICAN PEACE ACADEMY LTD: $68,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSERVE INCORPORATED: $50,000 over 1y, 36% of budgetROCKETSHIP EDUCATION WISCONSIN INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNEXT DOOR FOUNDATION INC: $45,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCITY YEAR INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGreenhouse E3: $30,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetHIGHLAND COMMUNITY SCHOOL INC: $24,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetURBAN LEARNING COLLABORATIVE INC: $21,300 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetPENFIELD MONTESSORI ACADEMY INC: $18,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetSEEDS OF HEALTH INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Greater Milwaukee Fou…Herbert H Kohl Charit…United Way of Greater…Evan & Marion Helfaer…Baird Foundation IncGreen Bay Packers Fou…Northwestern Mutual L…The Lynde and Harry B…Cedar Street Charitab…Hh Camp FoundationYouth Foundation IncBradley Impact Fund I…
Greater Milwaukee Foundation IncWI40.9× affinity18 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Milwaukee Foundation Inc · Herbert H Kohl Charities Inc · United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County Inc · Evan & Marion Helfaer Foundation · Baird Foundation Inc · Green Bay Packers Foundation · Northwestern Mutual Life Foundation Inc · The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Inc · Cedar Street Charitable Foundation Inc · Hh Camp Foundation · Youth Foundation Inc · Bradley Impact Fund Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization City Forward Collective Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from City Forward Collective Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 21%
  • City Year Inc: 21% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 32 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on City Forward Collective’s filings →

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 endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home