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Colorado Succeeds at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Colorado Succeeds

Colorado Succeeds is a nonpartisan, business-led organization working to improve education and workforce outcomes.

$850k
Granted FY2025still arriving
1
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$850k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0184% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2021.

Education$465kInternational$15kHealth$15kYouth Development$15kOther$0
02FY2025 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$850,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$5.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Agile Learner Fund$850,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 94% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%LEGEND EDGE: $5k → 3%STRAWBERRY PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $6k → 6%CARBONDALE MIDDLE SCHOOL: $15k → 6%WARREN TECH-CENTRAL: $15k → 7%CLEAR CREEK SCHOOL DISTRICT: $15k → 7%ROARING FORK SCHOOL DISTRICT: $5k → 8%GRANDVIEW HIGH SCHOOL: $5k → 8%COLORADO SPRINGS SCHOOL DISTRICT 11: $15k → 9%THE SUCCESS FOUNDATION: $15k → 9%LONGFELLOW ELEMENTARY: $15k → 10%STEM LAUNCH: $15k → 10%LOVELAND CLASSICAL SCHOOLS: $5k → 11%MORGAN COUNTY DISTRICT RE-3: $6k → 12%ST VRAIN VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT RE-IJ: $15k → 12%THE CUBE CORP: $15k → 12%PAONIA ELEMENTARY: $15k → 15%PARKVIEW MEDICAL CENTER STEP PROGRAM: $15k → 15%CANON CITY SCHOOLS: $15k → 17%MANASSA ELEMENTARY: $5k → 18%HOLLY SCHOOL DISTRICT RE: $6k → 19%LA VETA SCHOOL DISTRICT: $15k → 19%GREEN MOUNTAIN HIGH SCHOOL: $15k → 7%LITTLETON HIGH SCHOOL: $5k → 8%WIDEFIELD SCHOOL DISTRICT 3: $15k → 9%UNION COLONY PREPARATORY SCHOOL: $5k → 9%STEM LAUNCH: $5k → 10%POUDRE SCHOOL DISTRICT: $5k → 11%ST VRAIN VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT: $15k → 12%DENVER SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECH: $6k → 12%WARREN TECH: $5k → 7%MURPHY CREEK P-8: $5k → 8%BRISTOL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $16k → 9%AURORA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $15k → 10%VALDEZ ELEMENTARY: $16k → 12%COLORADO YOUTH CONGRESS: $15k → 7%CHERRY CREEK SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $15k → 8%HARRISON SCHOOL DISTRICT: $16k → 9%THIRD FUTURE SCHOOLS: $15k → 10%THOMAS MCLAREN STATE CHARTER SCHOOL: $6k → 9%SOARING EAGLES PTO: $6k → 9%COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP ACADEMY: $6k → 10%DSST GREEN VALLEY RANCH HS: $16k → 12%WYATT ACADEMY: $15k → 12%BEACON NETWORK SCHOOLS: $15k → 12%MILE HIGH EARLY LEARNING: $15k → 12%KIPP SUNSHINE PEAK ACADEMY: $6k → 12%Agile Learner Fund: $850k → 12%DENVER CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: $15k → 12%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.

4%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$51k · 3 repeat orgs$1.4M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +1272% since the first grant, against +75% for those funded once.

3 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
51

Total granted

$51k
$536k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+1272%
+75%

Still filing today

33%
22%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $850k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’25
EducationCivil RightsOther
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

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    2× · 2017–2018 · $20k
  • JD
    JT DISTRICT 28-J
    2× · 2019–2021 · $20k
  • DS
    DENVER SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INC
    2× · 2017–2018 · $11k · revenue ×14

Funded once

  • DG
    DSST GREEN VALLEY RANCH HS
    one grant, 2017 · $16k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $16k
  • BE
    BRISTOL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
    one grant, 2017 · $16k
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
New Legacy Charter School

The mission of New Legacy Charter School is to provide parenting students with the skills needed to raise healthy children and to engage all students in personalized projects and experiences that develop college and career awareness and…

Education
2
New Vision Charter School

Our mission is to challenge encourage and empower students everyday to persevere on their journey to becoming lifelong learners.

Education
3
Goal Academy

GOAL Academy is an alternative education online blended high school serving students across the state of Colorado. GOAL's mission statement is "to develop productive members of society". GOAL's vision statement is "to help all students…

Education
4
Ascend College Prep

Ascend College Prep is a public high school for 10-12th grade students in Colorado Springs and the surrounding area. Our Mission is to "Prepare and inspire students to become lifelong learners and responsible citizens through rigorous…

Education
5
Pikes Peak School of Expeditionary Learning

Provide education for students in Pre-K through 8th grade, benefitting approximately 415 students.

Education
6
High Rockies Community School

Our mission is to provide individualized educational options where students and teachers engage in playful, exploratory learning by creating a culture of collaboration in a safe, diverse, multi-age environment. Our students are encouraged…

Education
7
The Stead School

Empower students to design and lead their own postsecondary and career pathways with the context of an exciting Science, Technology, Environmental, Agricultural and System Design thinking learning environment.

—
8
Colorado Early Colleges

Every student regardless of background or skill level will achieve mastery and will demonstrate that they can succeed in high school in college and in their chosen career. no exceptons no excuses.

Education
9
The Girls Athletic Leadership School of Denver

The Girls Athletic Leadership School, Denver (GALS) is the only public, all-girls charter school in the State of Colorado. GALS' mission is to empower young women to succeed academically, lead confidently, live boldly, and thrive…

Education
10
Colorado Military Academy

The vision of Colorado Military Academy is to be the premier military academy in the region recognized for STEM excellence and developing strong leaders of character.

Education
11
Colorado High School Charter Inc

We are transforming the alternative education experience by igniting the potential within each of the diverse young people we serve. chsc ensures students personal and academic growth by creating tailored curricula, a supportive school…

Education
12
Soar Charter School

Soar charter school was founded in 2010 and is built on the premise that we should "expect more" from our public schools. soar students create full and meaningful lives, enrich our democracy, and contribute to a more just society.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Denver School of Science and Technology Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Cube. 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

14 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. 14 of the 55 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/14
Grantees still filing
12/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Agile Learner Fund: $850,000 · EducationAgile Learner Fund+8 more: $78,000 · Education+8 moreIndividual grant recipient: $20,000 · OtherJT DISTRICT 28-J: $20,000 · Other+43 more: $454,000 · Other+43 moreColorado Youth Congress: $15,000 · Civil Rights
Education$928,000Other$494,000Civil Rights$15,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetAgile Learner Fund: $850,000 over 1y, 97% of budgetCHERRY CREEK SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetMILE HIGH MONTESSORI EARLY LEARNING CENT: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Success Foundation Serving Greeley-Evans Schools Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetWyatt Academy: $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetDENVER SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INC: $11,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetThomas MacLaren School: $6,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE HADANOU COLLECTIVE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN PREPARATORY SCHOOLS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLoveland Classical Schools: $5,000 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.

  • Who funds Agile Learner Fund ↗
  • Who funds THIRD FUTURE SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds CHERRY CREEK SCHOOLS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE CUBE ↗
  • Who funds MILE HIGH MONTESSORI EARLY LEARNING CENT ↗
  • Who funds Colorado Youth Congress ↗
  • Who funds The Success Foundation Serving Greeley-Evans Schools Inc ↗
  • Who funds Wyatt Academy ↗
  • Who funds DENVER SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INC ↗
  • Who funds Thomas MacLaren School ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP ACADEMY INC ↗

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.

The Denver FoundationRose Community Founda…The Colorado Health F…Daniels FundEarly Milestones Colo…Colorado Gives Founda…The Colorado Educatio…Mile High United Way …Temple Hoyne Buell Fo…El Pomar FoundationFoundation for Educat…Kaiser Foundation Hea…
The Denver FoundationCO25.9× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Denver Foundation · Rose Community Foundation · The Colorado Health Foundation · Daniels Fund · Early Milestones Colorado · Colorado Gives Foundation · The Colorado Education Initiative · Mile High United Way Inc · Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation · El Pomar Foundation · Foundation for Educational Excellence · Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Colorado

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 Colorado Succeeds funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Colorado Succeeds. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
    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 55 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 Colorado Succeeds’ 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