Skip to content
The Fund for Theological Education Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

The Fund for Theological Education Inc

The fund for theological education (fte) cultivates diverse, young adults to be faithful, wise and courageous leaders for the church and academy.

$1.9M
Granted FY2024still arriving
55
Grants FY2024still arriving
23
States reached
$50k
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Religion$2.3MEducation$1.4MYouth Development$316kCommunity Improvement$245kEmployment$108kCivil Rights$54kHuman Services$52kArts & Culture$50kOther$0
02FY2024 · 55 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 55 grants below total $1,344,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,908,710 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $564,710 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

  • $10k–50k37 grants · $444k
  • $50k–250k18 grants · $900k
$12,000
Median grant
23
States reached
$40M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LEWIS UNIVERSITY$50,000
TREVECCA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY$50,000
AUGSBURG UNIVERSITY$50,000
IGNATIAN SOLIDARITY NETWORK$50,000
BARCLAY COLLEGE$50,000
HENDRIX COLLEGE$50,000
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE$50,000
BOSTON COLLEGE$50,000
SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE - THE SUMMIT$50,000
GRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY$50,000
CATAWBA COLLEGE$50,000
AZUSA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY$50,000
HUNTINGTON UNIVERSITY INC$50,000
HOPE COLLEGE$50,000
CENTER FOR YOUTH MINISTRY TRAINING$50,000
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 (FY19–19, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Freely in Hope: $10k → 10%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

WA
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
IA
IN
OH
PA
CT
CA
CO
MO
KY
VA
MD
AZ
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
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.

19%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$894k · 24 repeat orgs$3.8M to everyone else

24 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2024, 21 since wound down; 50 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
182

Total granted

$894k
$2.5M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
+5%

Still filing today

38%
19%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 6% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.3M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationReligionHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementHousing & ShelterYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • ML
    MINISTRY LEADERSHIP CENTER FKA CENTER FOR YOUTH MINISTRY TRAINING
    2× · 2019–2024 · $60k · revenue +289%
  • FU
    Fordham University
    3× · 2017–2020 · $40k · revenue +47%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF DENVER
    3× · 2017–2020 · $40k · revenue +33%

Funded once

  • CS
    CLAREMONT SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY
    one grant, 2022 · $200k
  • TA
    The Art of Community
    one grant, 2018 · $29k
  • TO
    THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2019 · $25k
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
Regent University

Regent University serves as a center of Christian thought and action to provide excellent education through a Biblical perspective and global context equipping Christian leaders to change the world.

—
2
Asbury Theological Seminary

Asbury Theological Seminary is a community called to prepare theologically educated, sanctified, Spirit-filled men and women to evangelize and to spread scriptural holiness throughout the world through the love of Jesus Christ, in the…

Education
3
Evangel University

Evangel is a comprehensive christian university that is committed to excellence in educating and equipping students to become spirit empowered servants of god who will impact the church and society globally.

Education
4
Loyola University

Loyola University New Orleans, a Jesuit and Catholic institution of higher education, welcomes students of diverse backgrounds and prepares them to lead meaningful lives with and for others; to pursue truth, wisdom, and virtue; and to work…

Education
5
John Brown University

John brown university (jbu) provides christ-centered education that prepares students to honor god and serve others by developing their intellectual, spiritual, and professional lives. (continued on schedule o)jbu serves traditional…

Education
6
Arizona Christian University

Arizona christian university provides a biblically-integrated, liberal arts education equipping graduates to serve the lord jesus christ in all aspects of life, as leaders of influence and excellence.

Education
7
Pacific School of Religion

Pacific school of religion prepares a diverse cadre of spiritually rooted leaders with the vision, resilience, and skill to create a world where all can thrive. grounded in the rigorous study and faithful practice of progressive christian…

Education
8
Union University

Union university provides christ-centered education that promotes excellence and character development in service to church and society.

Education
9
Greensboro College

Greensboro College provides a liberal arts education grounded in the traditions of the United Methodist Church and fosters the intellectual, social, and spiritual development of all students while supporting their individual needs.

Education
10
Union College

Union college is a seventh-day adventist community of higher education, inspired by jesus christ, and dedicated to empowering students to learn, serve, and lead.

Education
11
American Baptist Theological Seminary dba American Baptist College

Is to provide educational opportunities for gifted students who have limited academic experiences and resources but unlimited potential for leadership in society.

Education
12
Saint John's University

To foster the vitality of community through learning and the pursuit of wisdom.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Fuller Theological Seminary; the most unlike its peers is Relevant Resources. 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

70 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. 70 of the 258 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
64/70
Grantees still filing
45/70
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CLAREMONT SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY: $200,000 · OtherCLAREMONT SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY+154 more: $2,534,840 · Other+154 moreAUGSBURG UNIVERSITY: $50,000 · EducationTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE: $50,000 · EducationHuntington University: $50,000 · EducationHENDRIX COLLEGE: $50,000 · EducationAZUSA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY: $50,000 · EducationGUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE: $50,000 · EducationLewis University: $50,000 · EducationTREVECCA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY: $50,000 · EducationIgnatian Solidarity Network: $50,000 · EducationBARCLAY COLLEGE: $50,000 · EducationGEORGETOWN COLLEGE: $50,000 · EducationGORDON COLLEGE: $50,000 · EducationTHE SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE: $50,000 · EducationHOPE COLLEGE: $50,000 · EducationCATAWBA COLLEGE: $50,000 · EducationGRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY: $50,000 · EducationSouthern California School Of Theology: $40,000 · EducationFordham University: $40,000 · EducationFULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $40,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF DENVER: $40,000 · Education+8 more: $114,000 · Education+8 moreMINISTRY LEADERSHIP CENTER FKA CENTER FOR YOUTH MINISTRY TRAINING: $60,000 · Religion4 MARKET SQUARE INC: $30,000 · ReligionJesus Family Network: $30,000 · ReligionYOUNG LEADERS INITIATIVE MOTOWN MISSION EXPERIENCE: $30,000 · ReligionFLORIDA UNITED METHODIST FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · ReligionTechMission Inc: $15,000 · ReligionUKIRK COLLEGIATE MINISTRIES ASSOCIATION INC: $12,000 · ReligionMARTHA O'BRYAN CENTER INC: $11,500 · ReligionMERE CHRISTIANITY FORUM INC: $10,000 · ReligionBMA TENPOINT INC: $10,000 · ReligionBARTIMAEUS MINISTRIES INC: $10,000 · ReligionQuaker Voluntary Service Inc: $20,000 · Human ServicesFREELY IN HOPE: $10,000 · Human ServicesREALITY MINISTRIES INC: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentChrist House: $15,000 · Housing & ShelterDiscovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection: $10,000 · Community ImprovementClergy and Laity United for Economic Justice: $10,000 · Civil Rights
Other$2,734,840Education$1,074,000Religion$238,500Human Services$30,000Youth Development$20,000Housing & Shelter$15,000Community Improvement$10,000Civil Rights$10,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetMINISTRY LEADERSHIP CENTER FKA CENTER FOR YOUTH MINISTRY TRAINING: $60,000 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetAUGSBURG UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHuntington University: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHENDRIX COLLEGE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAZUSA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WESTMONT COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetLewis University: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTREVECCA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetIgnatian Solidarity Network: $50,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetGEORGETOWN COLLEGE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGORDON COLLEGE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOPE COLLEGE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCATAWBA COLLEGE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFordham University: $40,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $40,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF DENVER: $40,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budget4 MARKET SQUARE INC: $30,000 over 2y, 4.6% of budgetCALL TO ACTION: $30,000 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetYOUNG LEADERS INITIATIVE MOTOWN MISSION EXPERIENCE: $30,000 over 2y, 8.1% of budgetREALITY MINISTRIES INC: $20,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetFLORIDA UNITED METHODIST FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCOALITION FOR CHRISTIAN OUTREACH: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetOUACHITA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT TRANSFORMATION NATIONAL: $20,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetEmory University: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChrist House: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTechMission Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetINCLUSIVE COLLECTIVE: $14,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetOUR LADY OF THE LAKE UNIVERSITY OF SAN ANTONIO: $12,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUKIRK COLLEGIATE MINISTRIES ASSOCIATION INC: $12,000 over 1y, 6.5% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $12,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBRENT HOUSE CORPORATION: $12,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMARTHA O'BRYAN CENTER INC: $11,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFREELY IN HOPE: $10,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetANATHOTH COMMUNITY GARDEN INC: $10,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetMISSION YEAR: $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetWESTMINSTER COLLEGE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAINT MARTIN'S UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITIES FIRST ASSOCIATION: $10,000 over 1y, 6.9% of budgetMiles College Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJUBILEE PARTNERS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetDiscovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection: $10,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetBMA TENPOINT INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% 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.

Lilly Endowment IncInterfaith AmericaCouncil of Independen…Je and le Mabee Found…Ibm International Fou…Christian Community F…Tulsa Community Found…Community Foundation …The Kresge FoundationThe Community Foundat…The US Charitable Gif…T Rowe Price Program …
Lilly Endowment IncIN25.6× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Lilly Endowment Inc · Interfaith America · Council of Independent Colleges · Je and le Mabee Foundation Inc · Ibm International Foundation · Christian Community Foundation of Memphis · Tulsa Community Foundation · Community Foundation of Greater Memphis Inc · The Kresge Foundation · The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Inc · The US Charitable Gift Trust · T Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving Inc

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest: 38% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Bma Tenpoint Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston College: 3% of income from government
  • Gordon College: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 The Fund for Theological Education Inc?

Find your warmest path to The Fund for Theological Education Inc 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 258 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 Fund for Theological Education’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