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

· Public charity

Sterling College

STERLING COLLEGE uses education as a force to advance ecological thinking and action through affordable experiential learning that prepares people to be knowledgeable, skilled, and responsible leaders in the communities in which they live.

$2.9M
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
11
States reached
$245k
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, FY2024 to 2025.

Education$2.4MEnvironment$175kFood & Nutrition$45kArts & Culture$20k
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 13 grants below total $1,396,280, the rows itemized in this filing. The $2,923,909 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $1,527,629 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 · FY2025

  • $10k–50k3 grants · $65k
  • $50k–250k10 grants · $1.3M
$122,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$5.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ST JOHN'S COLLEGE$244,520
COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC$137,560
WARREN WILSON COLLEGE$137,250
BENNINGTON COLLEGE$133,450
RANDOLPH COLLEGE$132,250
BLACKBURN COLLEGE$127,000
ANTIOCH COLLEGE$122,000
PRESCOTT COLLEGE$112,250
NORTHLAND COLLEGE$110,000
UNITY ENVIRONMENTAL UNIVERSITY$75,000
FRONT LINE FARMING$45,000
HARD PRESSED COMMUNITY PRINT SHOP$10,000
INDEPENDENT ARTS & MEDIA$10,000
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 (FY24–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 73% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%PRESCOTT COLLEGE: $112k → 14%WELLS COLLEGE: $100k → 13%ST JOHN'S COLLEGE: $245k → 12%NORTHLAND COLLEGE: $110k → 14%FRONT LINE FARMING: $45k → 12%ANTIOCH COLLEGE: $122k → 9%BLACKBURN COLLEGE: $127k → 12%RANDOLPH COLLEGE: $132k → 8%BENNINGTON COLLEGE: $133k → 11%HARD PRESSED COMMUNITY PRINT SHOP: $10k → 12%UNITY ENVIRONMENTAL UNIVERSITY: $100k → 7%COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC: $138k → 11%PRESCOTT COLLEGE: $100k → 14%ST JOHN'S COLLEGE: $210k → 12%NORTHLAND COLLEGE: $100k → 14%ANTIOCH COLLEGE: $100k → 9%BLACKBURN COLLEGE: $110k → 12%RANDOLPH COLLEGE: $120k → 8%BENNINGTON COLLEGE: $110k → 11%UNITY ENVIRONMENTAL UNIVERSITY: $75k → 7%COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC: $110k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
VT
IL
WI
NY
OH
CA
CO
VA
AZ
NM
NC
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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.5M · 10 repeat orgs$165k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +5% since the first grant, against -90% for those funded once.

10 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
1

Total granted

$2.5M
$100k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+5%
-90%

Still filing today

90%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $65k went to new ones.

50%100%’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’24’25
EducationFood & NutritionArts & CultureOther
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

  • RANDOLPH COLLEGE INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $252k · revenue +14%
  • COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $248k · revenue +8%
  • WARREN WILSON COLLEGE
    2× · 2024–2025 · $247k · revenue +31%

Funded once

  • WC
    WELLS COLLEGE
    one grant, 2024 · $100k · revenue -90%
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
Endicott College

Endicott college offers students a vibrant academic environment that remains true to its founding principle of integrating professional and liberal arts with experiential learning. for more information see schedule o.

Education
2
Dickinson College

Dickinson college provides a useful, innovative and interdisciplinary education in the liberal arts and sciences to prepare students to lead rich and fulfilling lives of engaged global citizenship

Education
3
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
4
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education
5
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
6
Sarah Lawrence College

At sarah lawrence college, our mission is to graduate citizens of the world who are diverse in every definition of the word, who take intellectual and creative risks, and who are able to focus exceptional intellectual discipline (continued…

Education
7
Goucher College

Goucher College provides an innovative liberal arts education that prepares students with a broad, humane perspective for a life of inquiry, creativity, and critical and analytical thinking. The College's vision is to become a top-100…

Education
8
Barton College

Founded in 1902, barton college is a four-year, private, liberal arts college located in wilson, n.c. the barton experience focuses on academic excellence within a wide range of professional and liberal arts programs leading to…

Education
9
Macalester College

Macalester is committed to being a preeminent liberal arts college with an educational program known for its high standards for scholarship and its special emphasis on internationalism, multiculturalism, and service to society.

Education
10
Mcdaniel College Inc

Mcdaniel college is a diverse student-centered community committed to excellence in the liberal arts & sciences and professional studies with careful mentoring and attention to the individual. mcdaniel changes lives. we challenge students…

Education
11
The President and Trustees of Colby College

to provide a rigorous and transformative liberal arts education that prepares students to become thoughtful, engaged citizens.

Education
12
The Trustees of Grinnell College

To educate students in the liberal arts through free inquiry and the open exchange of ideas.when grinnell college framed its charter in the iowa territory of the united states in 1846, it set forth a mission to educate its students "for…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Bennington College Corporation; the most unlike its peers is Front Line Farming. 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

12 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. 12 of the 14 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/12
Grantees still filing
7/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

RANDOLPH COLLEGE INC: $252,250 · EducationRANDOLPH COLLEGE INCWARREN WILSON COLLEGE: $247,250 · EducationWARREN WILSON COLLEGEBENNINGTON COLLEGE CORPORATION: $243,450 · EducationBENNINGTON COLLEGE CORPORATIONBLACKBURN UNIVERSITY: $237,000 · EducationBLACKBURN UNIVERSITYANTIOCH COLLEGE CORPORATION: $222,000 · EducationANTIOCH COLLEGE CORPORATIONNORTHLAND COLLEGE: $210,000 · EducationNORTHLAND COLLEGEUnity Environmental University: $175,000 · EducationUnity Environmental UniversityWELLS COLLEGE: $100,000 · EducationWELLS COLLEGEST JOHNS COLLEGE IN SANTA FE: $454,520 · OtherST JOHNS COLLEGE IN SANTA FECOLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC: $247,560 · OtherCOLLEGE OF THE ATLANTICPRESCOTT COLLEGE INC: $212,250 · OtherPRESCOTT COLLEGE INC+1 more: $10,000 · OtherFront Line Farming: $45,000 · Food & NutritionIndependent Arts & Media: $10,000 · Arts & Culture
Education$1,686,950Other$924,330Food & Nutrition$45,000Arts & Culture$10,000

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

25%50%75%100%grantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetRANDOLPH COLLEGE INC: $252,250 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCOLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC: $247,560 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetWARREN WILSON COLLEGE: $247,250 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBENNINGTON COLLEGE CORPORATION: $243,450 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBLACKBURN UNIVERSITY: $237,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetANTIOCH COLLEGE CORPORATION: $222,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetPRESCOTT COLLEGE INC: $212,250 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetNORTHLAND COLLEGE: $210,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetUnity Environmental University: $175,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWELLS COLLEGE: $100,000 over 1y, 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.

Endeavor Foundation I…Ibm International Fou…Raymond James Charita…American Endowment Fo…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Endeavor Foundation IncNY22.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Endeavor Foundation Inc · Ibm International Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · American Endowment Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 Sterling College funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sterling College. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Bennington College Corporation: 0% of 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 · 0–20%
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.

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 14 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

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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