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Maryland · Nonprofit

AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN INC

AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN INC (Maryland) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,529,450 to it, the largest being THE HOWLEY FOUNDATION ($4,500,000). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$12M
Funders on record
33
Grants received
$9.5M
Net assets
$5.4M
12/33 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 29%
01What it does

What American Federation for Children Inc does

Mission

To empower families, especially lower-income families, with the freedom to choose the best k-12 education for their children.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. State support:direct grants made to non-profit organizations, contracts with lobbyists and other consultants and direct expenses incurred within select states throughout the country to support efforts to develop and pass school choice legislation; enact new school choice programs; protect, strengthen or expand current school choice programs.

    $7,306,727 spentof which $895,450 as grants
    82% of program spending
  2. Communications:develop and distribute research and policy material to educate policymakers, state and local leaders, media and general public about the need for, and success of, school choice; develop and mobilize at the grassroots level to show support for school choice; conduct print, broadcast, digital, and social media activities to promote school choice around the country.

    $1,229,703 spent
    14% of program spending
  3. Conferences:conduct or participate in training seminars, conferences, and smalldonor events for scholars and activists to develop strategies for advancing and promoting school choice around the country.

    $369,035 spent
    4% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $8,905,465.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($7.1M) Expenses 100 ($6.6M) Net assets 100 ($1.4M)2018 Revenue 98 ($7.0M) Expenses 119 ($7.9M) Net assets 35 ($494k)2019 Revenue 117 ($8.3M) Expenses 124 ($8.2M) Net assets 41 ($585k)2020 Revenue 135 ($9.6M) Expenses 136 ($9.0M) Net assets 206 ($2.9M)2021 Revenue 126 ($8.9M) Expenses 117 ($7.7M) Net assets 290 ($4.1M)2022 Revenue 127 ($9.0M) Expenses 134 ($8.8M) Net assets 302 ($4.3M)2023 Revenue 157 ($11M) Expenses 167 ($11M) Net assets 310 ($4.4M)2024 Revenue 167 ($12M) Expenses 163 ($11M) Net assets 382 ($5.4M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (167)Expenses (163)Net assets (382)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2019 to 2020, from $1.1M to $3.4M (+197%).

$1.8M
$1.1M
$1.1M
$3.4M
$4.7M
$5.2M
$5.2M
$6.3M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

97% of AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (23% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 4,251 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$486k
’17
−$918k
’18
$91k
’19
$578k
’20
$1.2M
’21
$160k
’22
$124k
’23
$1.0M
’24
5.8
months of
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.

Chief executive

Thomas Schultz

Chief executive officer

Board chair

William E Oberndorf

Chairman

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed1616202022201717
Joined·+2+4+2+3+2+1+3
No longer listed·2021443
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 10 funders, grant income rose $63k → $1.3M.

From the IRS filings of AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 33 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

AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 47% of grant income and the top three 69%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

47%
largest funder
69%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 32% · 2018 66% · 2019 42% · 2020 68% · 2021 57% · 2022 46% · 2023 56% — 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

30% of AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 36% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN INC draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Maryland, across 17 states in all.

IL
WI
NY
MA
OR
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
UT
MO
VA
DC
OK
TX
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Maryland out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 4,064 education nonprofits its size.

Operating margin9% · above the median
Months of reserve5.8mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)8% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,064 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024

Organizations like AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN 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 Maryland

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

82% of spending goes to programs.

Program 82%Management 12%Fundraising 5%

Governance

8
board members
88%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 19 states

WA
WI
NY
MA
PA
NJ
CT
CO
MO
KY
VA
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
HI
GA
FL

Part of a family of 7 related entities

  • American Federation for Children Growth Fund Inc · exempt
  • American Federation for Children Action Fund · exempt
  • Nebraska Federation for Children PAC · exempt
  • Texas Federation for Children PAC Inc · exempt
  • Afc Victory Fund · exempt

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN 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.

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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 AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN INC?
AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN INC (Maryland) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,529,450 to it, the largest being THE HOWLEY FOUNDATION ($4,500,000). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN INC have?
IRS filings report 33 organizations giving $9,529,450 in grants to AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN INC, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN INC?
THE HOWLEY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $4,500,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 33 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