Skip to content
Wonderful Foundations at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Wonderful Foundations

BY MEETING STUDENTS EXACTLY WHERE THEY ARE AND TAILORING THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE TO THEIR PARTICULAR NEEDS, CHARTER SCHOOLS OFFER A PROVEN PATH FOR KIDS FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE TO REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL.

$284k
Granted FY2024still arriving
12
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$61k
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, FY2021 to 2024.

Education$927kArts & Culture$28kYouth Development$21kRecreation & Sports$21kEnvironment$9k
02FY2024 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $3k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $163k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $119k
$16,500
Median grant
4
States reached
$226M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WAYNE PREPARATORY ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL INC$60,965
IMAGINE SCHOOL AT TOWN CENTER LLC$57,800
RICHMOND CHARTER ACADEMY$35,000
IMAGINE SCHOOL AT PALMER RANCH$21,000
IMAGINE AVONDALE ELEMENTARY INC$18,500
IMAGINE PREP COOLIDGE INC$16,500
KID'S COMMUNITY COLLEGE CHARTER SCHOOL INC$16,500
IMAGINE COOLIDGE ELEMENTARY INC$14,500
IMAGINE PREP SUPERSTITION INC$14,500
SANDHILLS THEATRE ARTS RENAISSANCE SCHOOL$14,000
KCC ELEMENTARY CHARTER SCHOOL SOUTHEAST COUNTY INC$12,000
DESERT SAGE HIGH SCHOOL$2,500
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY21–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 62% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%IMAGINE AVONDALE ELEMENTARY INC: $19k → 11%IMAGINE PREP COOLIDGE INC: $47k → 11%DESERT STAR ACADEMY: $13k → 17%FIT ACADEMY: $29k → 6%RICHMOND CHARTER ACADEMY: $35k → 9%REX AND MARGARET FORTUNE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: $21k → 14%LIFELONG LEARNING ADMINISTRATION CORPORATION: $24k → 14%IMAGINE SCHOOL AT SARASOTA LLC: $65k → 9%IMAGINE SCHOOL AT TOWN CENTER LLC: $58k → 9%IMAGINE SCHOOL AT SOUTH INDIAN RIVER COUNTY LLC: $28k → 12%KID'S COMMUNITY COLLEGE CHARTER SCHOOL INC: $17k → 13%SANDHILLS THEATRE ARTS RENAISSANCE SCHOOL: $14k → 10%WAYNE PREPARATORY ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL INC: $61k → 18%DUBOIS INTEGRITY ACADEMY: $35k → 15%IMAGINE AVONDALE ELEMENTARY INC: $19k → 11%IMAGINE PREP COOLIDGE INC: $17k → 11%AMETHOD PUBLIC SCHOOLS INC: $34k → 9%IMAGINE SCHOOL AT PALMER RANCH: $21k → 9%IMAGINE SCHOOL AT TOWN CENTER LLC: $20k → 9%KID'S COMMUNITY COLLEGE CHARTER SCHOOL INC: $17k → 13%SANDHILLS THEATRE ARTS RENAISSANCE SCHOOL: $14k → 10%WAYNE PREPARATORY ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL INC: $28k → 18%DUBOIS INTEGRITY ACADEMY: $17k → 15%IMAGINE AVONDALE ELEMENTARY INC: $13k → 11%IMAGINE COOLIDGE ELEMENTARY INC: $15k → 11%RICHMOND CHARTER ACADEMY: $9k → 9%IMAGINE SCHOOL AT PALMER RANCH: $21k → 9%IMAGINE SCHOOL AT TOWN CENTER LLC: $19k → 9%KID'S COMMUNITY COLLEGE CHARTER SCHOOL INC: $13k → 13%NEIGHBORHOOD YOUTH LEADERSHIP: $11k → 10%WAYNE PREPARATORY ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL INC: $26k → 18%IMAGINE AVONDALE ELEMENTARY INC: $12k → 11%IMAGINE COOLIDGE ELEMENTARY INC: $15k → 11%IMAGINE SCHOOL AT SARASOTA LLC: $20k → 9%KID'S COMMUNITY COLLEGE CHARTER SCHOOL INC: $12k → 13%NEIGHBORHOOD YOUTH LEADERSHIP: $10k → 10%WAYNE PREPARATORY ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL INC: $20k → 18%IMAGINE PREP COOLIDGE INC: $12k → 11%KCC ELEMENTARY CHARTER SCHOOL SOUTHEAST COUNTY INC: $12k → 13%IMAGINE PREP COOLIDGE INC: $11k → 11%KCC ELEMENTARY CHARTER SCHOOL SOUTHEAST COUNTY INC: $12k → 13%IMAGINE COOLIDGE ELEMENTARY INC: $11k → 11%KCC ELEMENTARY CHARTER SCHOOL SOUTHEAST COUNTY INC: $10k → 13%IMAGINE COOLIDGE ELEMENTARY INC: $10k → 11%IMAGINE PREP SUPERSTITION INC: $15k → 11%IMAGINE PREP SUPERSTITION INC: $14k → 11%IMAGINE PREP SUPERSTITION INC: $11k → 11%IMAGINE PREP SUPERSTITION INC: $10k → 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 6% of Wonderful Foundations’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Wonderful Foundationslessmore 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.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$798k · 16 repeat orgs$208k to everyone else

16 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2024, 5 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
6

Total granted

$798k
$150k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
+37%

Still filing today

63%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 80% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $58k 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
EducationYouth 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

  • WP
    WAYNE PREPARATORY ACADEMY INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $135k · revenue +26%
  • IP
    IMAGINE PREP COOLIDGE INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $87k · revenue +4%
  • IS
    IMAGINE SCHOOLS NON-PROFIT INC
    2× · 2021–2022 · $84k · revenue +42%

Funded once

  • AP
    AMETHOD PUBLIC SCHOOLS
    one grant, 2021 · $34k · revenue +18%
  • FA
    FIT ACADEMYgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $29k · revenue +56%
  • IS
    IMAGINE SCHOOL AT SOUTH INDIAN RIVER COUNTY LLC
    one grant, 2022 · $28k
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
Imagine Charter Elementary At Desert West Inc

To operate a not for profit charter school and conduct educational research, evaluation, and development activities.

Education
2
Imagine Charter Elementary At Camelback Inc

Imagine camelback aspires to address the needs of individual students by establishing a rigorous learning environment and character education in a safe and secure atmosphere through partnerships with parents, community and stakeholders.

Education
3
Imagine Prep At Surprise Inc

To operate a not for profit charter school and conduct educational research, evaluation, and development activities.

Education
4
Imagine Middle At Surprise Inc

To operate a not for profit charter school and conduct educational research, evaluation, and development activities.

Education
5
Imagine Middle At East Mesa Inc

To operate a not for profit charter school and conduct educational research, evaluation, and development activities.

Education
6
East Mesa Charter Elementary School

To operate a not for profit charter school and conduct educational research, evaluation, and development activities.

Education
7
West Gilbert Charter Elementary School

To operate a not for profit charter school and conduct educational research, evaluation, and development activities.

Education
8
Academy Charter School

Academy charter school (the "school") was formed in 1993 pursuant to the colorado charter schools act to form and operate a charter school.

Education
9
Kid's Community College Charter High School Inc

Kids community college is a nationally accredited (nac, nca-casi, advanced) premier provider of high quality nurturing and learning environments that prepare 9-12 students to excel developmentally and academically using howard gardners…

Education
10
Imagine Superstition Middle Inc

To operate a not for profit charter school and conduct educational research, evaluation, and development activities.

Education
11
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
12
Imagine Desert West Middle Inc

To operate a not for profit charter school and conduct educational research, evaluation, and development activities.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Imagine Prep Coolidge Inc; the most unlike its peers is Desert Star Academy. 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

15 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. 15 of the 23 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)
15/15
Grantees still filing
14/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WAYNE PREPARATORY ACADEMY INC: $134,765 · EducationWAYNE PREPARATORY ACADEMY INCIMAGINE PREP COOLIDGE INC: $86,555 · EducationIMAGINE PREP COOLIDGE INCIMAGINE SCHOOLS NON-PROFIT INC: $84,442 · EducationIMAGINE SCHOOLS NON-PROFIT INCIMAGINE AVONDALE ELEMENTARYINC: $62,026 · EducationIMAGINE AVONDALE ELEMENTARYINCKID'S COMMUNITY COLLEGE CHARTER SCHOOL INC: $57,615 · EducationKID'S COMMUNITY COLLEGE CHARTER SCHOOL INCDUBOIS INTEGRITY ACADEMY: $52,050 · EducationDUBOIS INTEGRITY ACADEMYIMAGINE COOLIDGE ELEMENTARY INC: $50,183 · EducationIMAGINE COOLIDGE ELEMENTARY INCIMAGINE PREP SUPERSTITION INC: $49,783 · EducationIMAGINE PREP SUPERSTITION INCAMETHOD PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $34,061 · EducationLIFELONG LEARNING ADMINISTRATION CORPORATION: $23,930 · Education+3 more: $52,547 · Education+3 moreIMAGINE SCHOOL AT TOWN CENTER LLC: $57,800 · OtherIMAGINE SCHOOL AT TOWN CENTER LLCRICHMOND CHARTER ACADEMY: $43,964 · OtherRICHMOND CHARTER ACADEMYIMAGINE SCHOOL AT PALMER RANCH: $41,900 · OtherIMAGINE SCHOOL AT PALMER RANCHIMAGINE SCHOOL AT TOWN CENTER LLC: $39,002 · OtherIMAGINE SCHOOL AT TOWN CENTER LLCFIT ACADEMY: $29,090 · OtherFIT ACADEMYIMAGINE SCHOOL AT SOUTH INDIAN RIVER COUNTY LLC: $28,490 · OtherIMAGINE SCHOOL AT SOUTH INDIAN RI…SANDHILLS THEATRE ARTS RENAISSANCE SCHOOL: $27,900 · OtherSANDHILLS THEATRE ARTS RENAISSANC…KCC ELEMENTARY CHARTER SCHOOL SOUTHEAST COUNTY INC: $24,000 · OtherKCC ELEMENTARY CHARTER SCHOOL SOU…+1 more: $4,700 · OtherNEIGHBORHOOD YOUTH LEADERSHIP INC: $21,051 · Youth Development
Education$687,957Other$296,846Youth Development$21,051

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

25%50%75%100%$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetWAYNE PREPARATORY ACADEMY INC: $134,765 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetIMAGINE PREP COOLIDGE INC: $86,555 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetIMAGINE SCHOOLS NON-PROFIT INC: $84,442 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetIMAGINE AVONDALE ELEMENTARYINC: $62,026 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetKID'S COMMUNITY COLLEGE CHARTER SCHOOL INC: $57,615 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetDUBOIS INTEGRITY ACADEMY: $52,050 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetIMAGINE COOLIDGE ELEMENTARY INC: $50,183 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetIMAGINE PREP SUPERSTITION INC: $49,783 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetAMETHOD PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $34,061 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFIT ACADEMY: $29,090 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetLIFELONG LEARNING ADMINISTRATION CORPORATION: $23,930 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREX AND MARGARET FORTUNE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: $21,300 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD YOUTH LEADERSHIP INC: $21,051 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetKID'S COMMUNITY COLLEGE ELEMENTARY CHARTER SCHOOL SOUTHEAST COUNTY INC: $17,997 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetDesert Star Academy: $13,250 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.

Imagine Schools Non-P…Amazonsmile Foundation
Imagine Schools Non-Profit IncVA13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Imagine Schools Non-Profit Inc · 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 Wonderful Foundations funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Wonderful Foundations. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%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 · 0–5%
    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 Wonderful Foundations?

    Find your warmest path to Wonderful Foundations 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 23 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-PF 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 Wonderful Foundations’ 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