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The Center for Education Reform at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

The Center for Education Reform

To expand educational opportunities that lead to improved economic outcomes for all americans, particularly our children, ensuring that the conditions are ripe for innovation, freedom, and flexibility throughout u.s.

$15M
Granted FY2024still arriving
29
Grants FY2024still arriving
23
States reached
$975k
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, FY2021 to 2024.

Education$45MArts & Culture$2.9MYouth Development$1.8MScience & Tech$1.5MRecreation & Sports$771kHuman Services$400kInternational$258kCivil Rights$250kOther$0
02FY2024 · 29 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 29 grants below total $8,615,500, the rows itemized in this filing. The $14,911,728 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $6,296,228 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

  • $50k–250k20 grants · $4.0M
  • $250k+9 grants · $4.6M
$200,000
Median grant
23
States reached
$5.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ARIZONA AUTISM CHARTER SCHOOLS INC$975,000
SAILFUTURE$770,500
UNCOMMON CONSTRUCTION$750,000
RAPUNZL$580,000
PRIMER MICROSCHOOLS FOUNDATION$500,000
RURAL SCHOOLS INNOVATION ZONE$250,000
THE BIG PICTURE COMPANY$250,000
ST MARYS ACADEMY$250,000
BODDLE LEARNING$250,000
AURORA SCIENCE AND TECH HIGH SCHOOL$225,000
CAFE MOMENTUM ACADEMY$210,000
THE LEARNING CENTER FOR THE DEAF$205,000
SPARK ACADEMY OF ADV TECH$200,000
ONWARD LEARNING$200,000
PENN HILLS CHARTER SCHOOL OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP$200,000
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 (FY21–24, $1.7M) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 57% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%NEW WAY GLOBAL: $100k → 10%VERDI ECOSCHOOL: $200k → 10%THE FREEDOM INSTITUTE OF COLLIER COUNTY: $200k → 10%HOPE YOUTH RANCH INC: $200k → 11%BRIDGEWAY ACADEMY: $200k → 15%TUTWILER COMMUNITY EDUCATION CENTER: $200k → 31%AN ACHIEVABLE DREAM INC: $200k → 17%NEW WAY GLOBAL: $20k → 10%REDLANDS CHRISTIAN MIGRANT ASSOCIATION: $200k → 10%BELIEVE I CAN ACADEMY: $50k → 11%MARYVILLE JEN SCHOOLWALSH ACADEMY: $100k → 14%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
NH
ID
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
WY
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
CO
NE
MO
WV
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
TX
FL
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.

18%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$9.5M · 13 repeat orgs$43M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +35% since the first grant, against +16% for those funded once.

13 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2024, 10 since wound down; 26 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
161

Total granted

$9.5M
$37M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
+16%

Still filing today

85%
68%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 29% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6.1M went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentCommunity ImprovementRecreation & 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

  • AA
    ARIZONA AUTISM CHARTER SCHOOLS INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $3.0M · revenue +100%
  • SI
    SAILFUTURE INC
    2× · 2022–2024 · $1.3M · revenue +13%
  • UC
    unCommon Construction Inc
    2× · 2022–2024 · $1.3M · revenue +219% · 65% of their budget

Funded once

  • NC
    NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTERgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $1.5M · revenue +76%
  • KA
    KHAN ACADEMY INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $1.5M · revenue +121%
  • AF
    AERA FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2022 · $1.5M · revenue -95% · 99% of their budget
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
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
2
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
3
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
4
Next Generation Education Dba Epic California Academy

To fulfill every student's individual potential by personalizing an educational plan that focuses on school and family partnership to achieve optimal student performance.

Education
5
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
6
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
7
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
8
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
9
Philips Academy Charter School Inc

Our mission is to inspire diverse learners in a rigorous and innovative environment that cultivates resilient leadership, intellectual curiosity, and thoughtful stewardship.

Education
10
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
11
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
12
Pathways High Inc

To unleash all learners' potential. now.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Success Academy Charter Schools Inc; the most unlike its peers is Gentlemens League. 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

139 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 139 of the 200 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.

20
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
34
Early backer (in before they grew)
138/139
Grantees still filing
91/139
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ARIZONA AUTISM CHARTER SCHOOLS INC: $2,975,000 · EducationARIZONA AUTISM CHARTER SCHOOLS INCKHAN ACADEMY INC: $1,500,000 · EducationAERA FOUNDATION INC: $1,500,000 · EducationEdChoice Inc: $1,000,000 · EducationURBAN PREPARATORY ACADEMY WICHITA: $1,000,000 · EducationNEURODIVERSITY EDUCATION RESEARCH CENTER: $1,000,000 · EducationVALIANT CROSS ACADEMY: $1,000,000 · Education+95 more: $19,230,600 · Education+95 moreRAPUNZL: $580,000 · OtherGLOBALED SOLUTIONS INCPBC: $525,000 · Other+74 more: $14,565,703 · Other+74 moreNATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER: $1,500,000 · Arts & CultureDISCOVERY CENTER OF SPRINGFIELD INC: $1,000,000 · Arts & Culture4 LEARNING: $250,000 · Arts & CultureLANCASTER SCIENCE CENTER: $100,000 · Arts & CultureCENTER FOR CREATIVE EDUCATION: $100,000 · Arts & CultureunCommon Construction Inc: $1,250,000 · Youth DevelopmentCAFE MOMENTUM: $210,000 · Youth DevelopmentBUILD UP: $200,000 · Youth DevelopmentKIND ACADEMY CORPORATION: $200,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER SAN DIEGO: $100,000 · Youth DevelopmentThe Eco-Collective Farm School Inc: $200,000 · Human ServicesAN ACHIEVABLE DREAM INC: $200,000 · Human ServicesBRIDGEWAY ACADEMY: $200,000 · Human ServicesREDLANDS CHRISTIAN MIGRANT ASSOCIATION INC: $200,000 · Human ServicesHope Youth Ranch Inc: $200,000 · Human ServicesTHE FREEDOM INSTITUTE INC: $200,000 · Human ServicesTutwiler Community Education Center: $200,000 · Human ServicesNew Way Global: $120,000 · Human ServicesMaryville Academy: $100,000 · Human Services+1 more: $50,000 · Human ServicesSAILFUTURE INC: $1,270,500 · Recreation & SportsBlack Mothers Forum Inc: $250,000 · Civil Rights
Education$29,205,600Other$15,670,703Arts & Culture$2,950,000Youth Development$1,960,000Human Services$1,670,000Recreation & Sports$1,270,500Civil Rights$250,000

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 budgetARIZONA AUTISM CHARTER SCHOOLS INC: $2,975,000 over 3y, 5.5% of budgetNATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER: $1,500,000 over 1y, 6.5% of budgetKHAN ACADEMY INC: $1,500,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetAERA FOUNDATION INC: $1,500,000 over 1y, 99% of budgetSAILFUTURE INC: $1,270,500 over 2y, 23% of budgetunCommon Construction Inc: $1,250,000 over 2y, 65% of budgetEdChoice Inc: $1,000,000 over 1y, 9.4% of budgetURBAN PREPARATORY ACADEMY WICHITA: $1,000,000 over 2y, 36% of budgetVALIANT CROSS ACADEMY: $1,000,000 over 1y, 35% of budgetFRIENDSHIP PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL INC: $600,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetDETROIT ACHIEVEMENT ACADEMY FOUNDATION: $500,000 over 1y, 22% of budgetWEST VIRGINIA ACADEMY LTD: $500,000 over 1y, 20% of budgetODYSSEY CHARTER SCHOOL: $500,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetCRISTO REY NETWORK: $500,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetCAPITAL PREPARATORY SCHOOLS INC: $500,000 over 1y, 9.0% of budgetDa Vinci Schools LA County: $400,000 over 2y, 4.8% of budgetYOUNG WOMEN'S PREPARATORY NETWORK: $400,000 over 2y, 7.6% of budgetDistinctive Schools of Illinois: $350,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetIndi-Ed Foundation Inc: $300,000 over 1y, 35% of budgetCARE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL INC: $250,000 over 1y, 12% of budget4 LEARNING: $250,000 over 1y, 49% of budgetPERSPECTIVES CHARTER SCHOOLS: $250,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetDALLAS EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $250,000 over 1y, 9.3% of budgetBlack Mothers Forum Inc: $250,000 over 2y, 21% of budgetLOUISIANA KEY ACADEMY: $250,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetTHE BIG PICTURE COMPANY: $250,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetCHICAGO HOPE ACADEMY: $250,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetALTUS ACADEMY: $250,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetDENVER SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INC: $225,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCAFE MOMENTUM: $210,000 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetTHE LEARNING CENTER FOR THE DEAF INC: $205,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetJUMOKE ACADEMY INC: $200,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetOPEN SKY EDUCATION INC: $200,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetBUILD UP: $200,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetFRIENDS OF FATHER JUDGE HIGH SCHOOL INC: $200,000 over 1y, 8.8% of budgetGEM INNOVATION SCHOOLS OF IDAHO INC: $200,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetCENTRAL ARKANSAS CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS INC: $200,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetPURDUE POLYTECHNIC HIGH SCHOOL OF INDIANAPOLIS INC: $200,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetThe Eco-Collective Farm School Inc: $200,000 over 1y, 42% of budgetPenn Hills Charter School of Entrepreneurship: $200,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetAN ACHIEVABLE DREAM INC: $200,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetThe Hughen Center Inc: $200,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetURBAN ASSEMBLY CHARTER SCHOOL FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE: $200,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetCODED BY: $200,000 over 1y, 8.5% of budgetCOLLEGE ACHIEVE PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS INC: $200,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetCREATE CONSERVATORY INC: $200,000 over 1y, 82% of budgetTHALES ACADEMY: $200,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetPRICHARD PREPARATORY SCHOOL INC: $200,000 over 1y, 20% 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 Fund50can IncThe Drexel FundNational School Choic…Walton Family Foundat…Big Shoulders FundBeth and Ravenel Curr…Louis Calder Foundati…The Lynde and Harry B…Bradley Impact Fund I…Enchanted Backpack
Charter Fund Inc D/B/A Charter School Growth FundCO51.6× affinity26 shared granteesties to 9 of 11Hover 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 · 50can Inc · The Drexel Fund · National School Choice Awareness Foundation Inc · Walton Family Foundation Inc · Big Shoulders Fund · Beth and Ravenel Curry Foundation · Louis Calder Foundation · The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Inc · Bradley Impact Fund Inc · Enchanted Backpack

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 The Center for Education Reform funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Center for Education Reform. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 120%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 8%
  • Redlands Christian Migrant Association Inc: 51% of income from government
  • The Learning Center for the Deaf Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Care Elementary School Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Odyssey Charter School: 2% of income from government
  • Center for Creative Education: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
12get no government money at all
53report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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.

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 200 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

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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