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

· Public charity

Lyra

LYRA incubates and accelerates high-impact education initiatives that tackle some of the biggest challenges facing education, deeply rooted in diverse and inclusive community voices.

$409k
Granted FY2024still arriving
6
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$300k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$1.6MPhilanthropy$150kEnvironment$142kYouth Development$96kCommunity Improvement$74kInternational$30kCivil Rights$20kEmployment$10kOther$0
02FY2024 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 6 grants below total $377,500, the rows itemized in this filing. The $408,600 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $31,100 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k3 grants · $23k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $55k
  • $250k+1 grant · $300k
$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$2.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LUMINARY LEARNING NETWORK$300,000
EMPOWER SCHOOLS$45,000
DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS$10,000
BOULDER VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT$7,500
THE STEAD SCHOOL$7,500
POUDRE SCHOOL DISTRICT R-1$7,500
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 (FY20–20, $1k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL OF LARIMER COUNTY: $1k → 11%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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 37% of Lyra’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 57% of the giving stays in CO; by stated purpose, 86%.

Lyralessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

50%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.0M · 3 repeat orgs$1.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +101% since the first grant, against +63% for those funded once.

3 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
47

Total granted

$1.0M
$665k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+101%
+63%

Still filing today

67%
62%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $378k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EducationYouth DevelopmentEnvironmentArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementCivil 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

  • EMPOWER SCHOOLS INC
    3× · 2020–2022 · $928k · revenue +53%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    2× · 2020–2021 · $54k
  • YV
    YAMPA VALLEY SUSTAINABILITY COUNCIL
    2× · 2021–2022 · $50k · revenue +101%

Funded once

  • THE COLORADO NONPROFIT DEVELOPMENT CENTERgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $70k · revenue +26%
  • TC
    THE COLORADO EDUCATION INITIATIVEgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $40k · revenue +41%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $39k
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
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
2
Pikes Peak School of Expeditionary Learning

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

Education
3
Community School Collaborative

To provide innovative career exploration and work-based learning opportunities that prepare youth to enter tomorrow's workforce and build fulfilling lives.

Education
4
Colorado Association of School Executives

Empower colorado education leaders through advocacy, professional learning and networking to deliver on the promise of public education

—
5
Colorado Learning Connections

Through individualized learning and responsive mentoring, we inspire, guide and empower students and families.

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
Mesa County Business Education Foundation

Education for youth throughout mesa county, co

Education
8
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
9
Great Education Colorado

Great education colorado harnesses the power of grassroots activism and diverse, inclusive networks to guarantee that public schools in every colorado community are welcoming and adequately, equitably, and sustainably funded

Education
10
Aia Colorado

AIA Colorado,is the voice of the architecture profession in Colorado. Through advocacy, leadership development, education and resources for architects, the organization supports architecture professionals in designing a better world where…

—
11
The Peak School

The peak school seeks to ignite a passion for learning, to develop students of diverse talents and backgrounds who think critically and act with integrity, and to graduate compassionate, confident, capable students who will embrace their…

Education
12
New Vision Charter School

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

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Rise Colorado; the most unlike its peers is Grand Mesa Arts & Events Center Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

35 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. 35 of the 57 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)
20
Early backer (in before they grew)
34/35
Grantees still filing
25/35
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

EMPOWER SCHOOLS INC: $927,500 · EducationEMPOWER SCHOOLS INCLUMINARY LEARNING NETWORK: $300,000 · EducationLUMINARY LEARNING NETWORK+12 more: $180,850 · Education+12 moreIndividual grant recipient: $54,000 · OtherIndividual grant reci…EMPOWER SCHOOLS: $45,000 · OtherEMPOWER SCHOOLSIndividual grant recipient: $38,800 · OtherIndividual grant reci…RESTORE TOGETHER GLOBAL EDUCATION NETWORK: $30,000 · OtherRESTORE TOGETHER GLOB…MCAULIFFE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL: $25,000 · OtherMCAULIFFE INTERNATION…SILVERTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $20,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER: $20,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $18,500 · OtherEmpower Community High School: $15,000 · OtherFREMONT RE-2 SCHOOL DISTRICT: $15,000 · OtherYoung African Americans for Social and Political Activism: $20,000 · Other+19 more: $119,200 · Other+19 moreYAMPA VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $150,000 · PhilanthropyYAMPA VALLEY SUSTAINABILITY COUNCIL: $50,000 · EnvironmentKEYSTONE CENTER: $20,000 · EnvironmentTHORNE ECOLOGICAL INSTITUTE: $5,000 · EnvironmentMONTEZUMA SCHOOL TO FARM PROJECT: $3,500 · EnvironmentTHE COLORADO NONPROFIT DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $70,000 · Community ImprovementINSPIRE: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF THE SAN LUIS VALLEY INC: $15,000 · Youth DevelopmentYouth Empowerment Broadcasting Org: $7,500 · Youth DevelopmentSIMS-FAYOLA FOUNDATION INC: $6,250 · Youth DevelopmentTHE COLORADO EDUCATION INITIATIVE: $40,000 · Arts & CulturePLATTEFORUM: $5,000 · Arts & CultureGRAND MESA ARTS & EVENTS CENTER INC: $2,700 · Arts & Culture
Education$1,408,350Other$420,500Philanthropy$150,000Environment$78,500Community Improvement$70,000Youth Development$48,750Arts & Culture$47,700

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetEMPOWER SCHOOLS INC: $927,500 over 3y, 8.0% of budgetLUMINARY LEARNING NETWORK: $300,000 over 1y, 52% of budgetYAMPA VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $150,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHE COLORADO NONPROFIT DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $70,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetYAMPA VALLEY SUSTAINABILITY COUNCIL: $50,000 over 2y, 3.6% of budgetTHE COLORADO EDUCATION INITIATIVE: $40,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetRESCHOOL: $35,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetMoonshot edVentures: $28,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetEDUCATION REFORM NOW INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetINSPIRE: $20,000 over 1y, 5.4% of budgetYoung African Americans for Social and Political Activism: $20,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetRISE COLORADO: $20,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetKEYSTONE CENTER: $20,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCOLORADO LEAGUE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS: $20,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF THE SAN LUIS VALLEY INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetEmpower Community High School: $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetHEART AND HAND CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCLIMB HIGHER COLORADO: $10,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetTHE KEYSTONE SCIENCE SCHOOL INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetWyatt Academy: $8,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE CHILDRENS KIVA MONTESSORI CHARTER SCHOOL: $8,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetThe STEAD School: $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSIMS-FAYOLA FOUNDATION INC: $6,250 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetColorado Association of Black Professional Engineers & Scientists: $5,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetSPRING INSTITUTE FOR INTERCULTURAL LEARNING: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPLATTEFORUM: $5,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetTHORNE ECOLOGICAL INSTITUTE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetYOUTHROOTS: $4,350 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetEDGEWATER COLLECTIVE: $4,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetMONTEZUMA SCHOOL TO FARM PROJECT: $3,500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetGRAND MESA ARTS & EVENTS CENTER INC: $2,700 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetNORTHERN COLORADO KIDS THRIVE: $1,200 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.

Rose Community Founda…The Denver FoundationThe Colorado Health F…Gates Family Foundati…Colorado Gives Founda…RootedWend II IncDonnell-Kay Foundatio…Margulf FoundationMile High United Way …Daniels FundEl Pomar Foundation
Rose Community FoundationCO47.8× affinity22 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Rose Community Foundation · The Denver Foundation · The Colorado Health Foundation · Gates Family Foundation · Colorado Gives Foundation · Rooted · Wend II Inc · Donnell-Kay Foundation Inc · Margulf Foundation · Mile High United Way Inc · Daniels Fund · El Pomar Foundation

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    14report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Lyra?

    Find your warmest path to Lyra through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    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 57 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Lyra’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