Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
50CAN INC
50CAN INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 139 organizations whose IRS filings report $271,267,965 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($59,965,430). 75 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 64% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $97M
- Funders on record
- 139
- Grants received
- $271M
- Net assets
- $33M
What 50can Inc does
Mission
50can is organized for the purpose of improving the quality of public education in the united states of america. It does so through the creation and management of state-based educational advocacy campaigns, fellowships for communicators and change makers, support of educational innovators and entrepreneurs and providing resources and research on effective advocacy.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Fiscal sponsorships50can offers fiscal sponsorship services to partner organizations that work within the organization's believe in better policy framework. To date, these relationships have been offered to new organizations awaiting independent 501(c)(3) status or to those who want to utilize 50can's financial and administrative management.
$70,542,857 spentof which $54,990,215 as grants$5,929,699 earned by the program91% of program spendingAdvocate for policy change50can's expert staff teams up with local advocacy leaders to develop and enact student and family-centered policy change.
$4,998,446 spent6% of program spendingCommunications & mobilization50can helps local leaders create a movement of informed citizens through media work, e-advocacy, publications, graphic design, partnerships with like-minded civic and community groups, phone banks, petitions and rallies. As a result, 50can leaders are frequently featured in television, online and print.
$1,647,079 spent2% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $77,188,382.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $20M to $37M (+85%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 10% · 2021 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
93% of 50CAN INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Michael Phillips
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 14 funders to 60 funders, grant income rose $1.4M → $59M.
35 of 139 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 64% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $524k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest 50can Action Fund Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money 50CAN INC raised.
From the IRS filings of 50CAN INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 139 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
50CAN INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 22% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
72% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund 50CAN INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 22% · 2018 31% · 2019 33% · 2020 35% · 2021 25% · 2022 46% · 2023 67% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
42% of 50CAN INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 54% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
64% of 50CAN INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $96M that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 27 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $175M arriving through sponsors registered in 20 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
50CAN INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 4,064 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,064 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Organizations like 50CAN INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
93% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
82%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 13 states
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- 50can Action Fund Inc · exempt
- 50can Action Fund PAC · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for 50CAN INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds 50CAN INC?
- 50CAN INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 139 organizations whose IRS filings report $271,267,965 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($59,965,430). 75 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 64% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does 50CAN INC have?
- IRS filings report 139 organizations giving $271,267,965 in grants to 50CAN INC, 75 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of 50CAN INC?
- DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $59,965,430 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like 50CAN INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 139 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing