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New Schools for Alabama at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

New Schools for Alabama

Our mission is to support the growth of excellent public charter schools in alabama to ensure that every child has access to a quality public education.

$10M
Granted FY2025still arriving
16
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$2.9M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$19M
02FY2025 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $29k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $300k
  • $250k+13 grants · $10M
$547,844
Median grant
2
States reached
$19M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MONTGOMERY EDUCATION FUND$2,851,300
I DREAM BIG ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL$1,088,833
WOODLAWN COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL$945,554
INDEPENDENCE SCHOOLS OF ALABAMA$812,979
FREEDOM PREPARATORY ACADEMY$760,885
UNIVERSITY CHARTER SCHOOL$625,472
MAEF PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS INC$622,188
LEAD EDUCATION FOUNDATION$547,844
FLORETTA P CARSON VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS ACADEMY$463,908
LEGACY SCHOOLS$448,716
COVENANT ACADEMY OF MOBILE$347,571
EMPOWER SCHOOLS OF ALABAMA INC$268,055
ALABAMA AEROSPACE AND AVIATION SCHOOLS INC$263,791
BLACK ALABAMIANS FOR EDUCATION$200,000
INVICTUS CAREER INSTITUTE$100,000
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 (FY21–25, $2.5M) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 54% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 12%COVENANT ACADEMY OF MOBILE: $672k → 19%LIFE LADIES INFLUENCING FREEDOM AND EXCELLENCE INC: $650k → 12%COVENANT ACADEMY OF MOBILE: $348k → 19%LIFE LADIES INFLUENCING FREEDOM AND EXCELLENCE INC: $265k → 12%LIFE LADIES INFLUENCING FREEDOM AND EXCELLENCE INC: $240k → 12%COVENANT ACADEMY OF MOBILE: $332k → 19%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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$28M · 20 repeat orgs$1.1M to everyone else

20 repeat relationships: 14 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

20
3

Total granted

$28M
$815k

Still filing today

90%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $300k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesOther
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

  • ME
    MONTGOMERY EDUCATION FOUNDATION
    5× · 2021–2025 · $5.5M · revenue +38% · 67% of their budget
  • MP
    MAEF PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $2.3M · revenue +181%
  • IA
    I3 ACADEMY
    5× · 2021–2025 · $2.0M · revenue ×81

Funded once

  • SC
    SUBRECIPIENT CHARTER SCHOOLS
    one grant, 2020 · $665k
  • IC
    IRON CITY EDUCATION
    one grant, 2023 · $100k
  • BS
    BARNABAS SCHOOL OF LEADERSHIP
    one grant, 2023 · $50k
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
Independence Academy

The mission of independence charter school (iacs) is to educate students of diverse ages and backgrounds - helping them understand, thrive in, and enhance our community, our environment,and our world. iacs regards learning as a continuing…

Education
2
Vision Academy Charter School

The mission of vision academy charter school is to prepare students in kindergarten through 8th grade to become responsible and articulate students and citizens by using a comprehensive curriculum designed to foster academic success and…

Education
3
Alliance Charter Academy

Our mission is to personalize learning through a collaboration of family, community and school; to nurture the innate curiosity of our students; ignite their passion for learning; and prepare them for lifelong success.

Education
4
The New American Academy Charter School

The new american academy charter school empowers learners and inspires leaders to make this a better world. through our collaborative teacher teams, mastery-based career ladder, and looping cycles, we offer personalized rigorous…

Education
5
Achievement House Charter School

It is the mission of the achievement house cyber charter school to provide all students with an experience that is complete with improved personal outcome and academic success and achievement in a rich and personalized learning environment…

Education
6
Ambition Preparatory Charter School

Through high-quality instruction, intensive academic supports, and hard work, ambition preparatory charter school ensures that all students in kindergarten through grade eight have academic skills and self-discipline for college and life…

Education
7
LEGACY21 Inc

The vision of Legacy Preparatory Charter Academy is that all LPCA schools will serve as a model school of excellence, addressing the needs of all school community stakeholders. The mission of Legacy Preparatory Charter Academy is to…

Education
8
Multicultural Academy Charter School

It is the mission of the multicultural academy charter school to educate the whole child by providing a safe environment where students can learn and teachers can instruct while emphasizing the importance of parental involvement in the…

Education
9
South Columbus Preparatory Academy

We care about every student and are committed to preparing children for lifelong success. Our Individualized Learning Plans start with a unique baseline for each student and analyze performance data at regular, short intervals. Teachers…

Education
10
Academy of Charter Schools Inc

Form 990 - Organizations Mission The Academy provides education to Pre-Kindergarten through 12th Grade students. The Academy serves our students to develop college ready exemplary citizens by promoting excellence in academics character and…

Education
11
Legacy College Preparatory Charter School

Through rigorous academic instruction, values-based character development, and the pursuit of ambitious goals, legacy college preparatory charter school ensures all students in grades six through twelve are prepared to graduate from…

Education
12
Ivy Bound Academy

Education

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Empower Schools of Alabama; the most unlike its peers is Black Alabamians for Educational Options. 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

21 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. 21 of the 25 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.

9
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/21
Grantees still filing
18/21
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MONTGOMERY EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $5,453,309 · EducationMONTGOMERY EDUCATION FOUNDATIONMAEF PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS INC: $2,327,687 · EducationMAEF PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS INCI3 ACADEMY: $2,043,434 · EducationI3 ACADEMYFREEDOM PREPARATORY ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL ALABAMA: $1,864,342 · EducationFREEDOM PREPARATORY ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL ALABAMABREAKTHROUGH CHARTER SCHOOL: $1,760,755 · EducationBREAKTHROUGH CHARTER SCHOOLALABAMA AEROSPACE & AVIATION HIGH SCHOOL: $1,728,001 · EducationALABAMA AEROSPACE & AVIATION HIGH SCHOOLEMPOWER SCHOOLS OF ALABAMA: $1,682,001 · EducationEMPOWER SCHOOLS OF ALABAMAFLORETTA P CARSON VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS ACADEMY: $1,211,637 · EducationI DREAM BIG ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL: $1,113,000 · EducationIndependence Schools of Alabama: $1,100,000 · EducationALABAMA CLASSICAL GROUP: $1,099,995 · EducationMagic City Acceptance Academy Charter Sc: $1,042,881 · EducationUniversity Charter School: $971,472 · Education+6 more: $2,498,060 · Education+6 moreCovenant Academy of Mobile: $1,351,456 · Human ServicesCovenant …LIFE LADIES INFLUENCING FREEDOM AND EXCELLENCE: $1,155,006 · Human ServicesLIFE LADI…SUBRECIPIENT CHARTER SCHOOLS: $664,775 · OtherIRON CITY EDUCATION: $100,000 · OtherINVICTUS CAREER INSTITUTE: $100,000 · OtherBARNABAS SCHOOL OF LEADERSHIP: $50,000 · Other
Education$25,896,574Human Services$2,506,462Other$914,775

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 budgetMONTGOMERY EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $5,453,309 over 5y, 67% of budgetMAEF PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS INC: $2,327,687 over 5y, 20% of budgetI3 ACADEMY: $2,043,434 over 5y, 4.7% of budgetFREEDOM PREPARATORY ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL ALABAMA: $1,864,342 over 2y, 62% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH CHARTER SCHOOL: $1,760,755 over 4y, 12% of budgetALABAMA AEROSPACE & AVIATION HIGH SCHOOL: $1,728,001 over 4y, 33% of budgetEMPOWER SCHOOLS OF ALABAMA: $1,682,001 over 5y, 28% of budgetCovenant Academy of Mobile: $1,351,456 over 3y, 22% of budgetFLORETTA P CARSON VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS ACADEMY: $1,211,637 over 3y, 46% of budgetLIFE LADIES INFLUENCING FREEDOM AND EXCELLENCE: $1,155,006 over 3y, 7.6% of budgetI DREAM BIG ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL: $1,113,000 over 2y, 61% of budgetIndependence Schools of Alabama: $1,100,000 over 3y, 87% of budgetALABAMA CLASSICAL GROUP: $1,099,995 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetMagic City Acceptance Academy Charter Sc: $1,042,881 over 4y, 45% of budgetUniversity Charter School: $971,472 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetLegacy Schools: $613,716 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetPHALEN LEADERSHIP ACADEMY - INDIANA: $476,500 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetFREEDOM PREPARATORY ACADEMY INC: $340,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetBLACK ALABAMIANS FOR EDUCATIONAL OPTIONS: $200,000 over 1y, 38% of budgetCitizens of the World Charter Schools Los Angeles: $150,000 over 2y, 0.3% 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.

Charter Fund Inc D/B/…New Schools FundThe Daniel Foundation…Alabama Power Foundat…Mike and Gillian Good…50can IncFidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Charter Fund Inc D/B/A Charter School Growth FundCO30× affinity12 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Charter Fund Inc D/B/A Charter School Growth Fund · New Schools Fund · The Daniel Foundation of Alabama · Alabama Power Foundation Inc · Mike and Gillian Goodrich Foundation · 50can Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 New Schools for Alabama funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from New Schools for Alabama. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    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 New Schools for Alabama?

    Find your warmest path to New Schools for Alabama 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 25 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 New Schools for Alabama’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