Massachusetts · Nonprofit
BEACON ACADEMY INC
BEACON ACADEMY INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 93 organizations whose IRS filings report $17,165,313 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($7,646,620). 56 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 72% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.6M
- Funders on record
- 93
- Grants received
- $17M
- Net assets
- $18M
What Beacon Academy Inc does
Mission
Beacon academy closes the opportunity gap for a group of greater boston's determined and inquisitive students. Through education and advocacy, our community supports students as they develop and embrace their identities and build lives of agency and impact.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Beacon academy provides a comprehensive 10-year program to prepare motivated students from historically under-resourced and/or underrepresented communities in greater boston for success in competitive high schools, colleges, and future careers. Beacon academy is dedicated to advancing educational equity and closing the opportunity gap by committing long-term support to each student, emphasizing both educational achievement and personal well-being and development.with extensive academic resources and a supportive community, beacon academy fosters intellectual curiosity, promotes self-affirmation of racial and cultural identity, builds confidence, and empowers students to find and utilize their voice.
$1,944,435 spent80% of program spendingThe first year of the 10-year program focuses on providing students with a strong academic education alongside engaging extracurricular activities. These initiatives enhance social and cultural experiences that build students' confidence and affirm their identities. Students also learn to represent beacon academy's core values of respect, courage, curiosity, and accountability, as they also develop their leadership skills. The students ultimately leverage their learnings and resources to apply and gain admittance to competitive independent high schools that fit their academic, personal, and financial expectations.and upon graduation, we assist the students in securing unique summer opportunities. Throughout the first year and beyond, beacon academy supports students in cultivating their ability to advocate for their desires and needs.
$204,967 spent8% of program spendingOur 10-year program is unique because we follow beacon academy alumni after the academy year. We prioritize communication and growth by offering mental health and wellness support, career readiness mentorship and guidance, and other services to collaboratively identify and address their needs. We provide educational support services to nearly 400 alumni to ensure continuity of guidance, resources, and connections to beacon academy after graduation.for our alumni in high school, these educational support services include a 9th-grade transition program, bi-annual care package, and personal visits. We also offer sat prep, essay writing support, college application assistance, and financial aid help to maintain regular contact and reinforce the strategies and values acquired during their academy year. Since 2017, 98% of our alumni have graduated from high school.on average, 92% of our active alumni gain admittance to four-year colleges, and most receive financial aid packages that exceed expected family contributions. College alumni take advantage of a wide range of professional development programs, including resume workshops, panel discussions with industry leaders, and access to…
$269,175 spentof which $269,175 as grants11% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,418,577.
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 2019 to 2020, from $8.7M to $15M (+68%).
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: 2024 2% · 2025 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
65% of BEACON ACADEMY INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 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.
Chief executive
Charles E Carter
CEO & head of school
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 18 funders to 38 funders, grant income rose $1.1M → $1.9M.
17 of 93 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 72% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of BEACON ACADEMY INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 93 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
BEACON ACADEMY INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 45% of grant income and the top three 63%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
73% 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 BEACON ACADEMY INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 36% · 2018 47% · 2019 44% · 2020 56% · 2021 40% · 2022 41% · 2023 42% — 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
55% of BEACON ACADEMY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% 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
72% of BEACON ACADEMY 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 $4.9M that is directly attributable, 59% of it comes from funders outside Massachusetts, across 16 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $12M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
BEACON ACADEMY INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 9,398 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,398 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding BEACON ACADEMY INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $89k on record.
- (PP) STATE AID/POL SUB$89k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like BEACON ACADEMY 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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
72% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BEACON ACADEMY 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 BEACON ACADEMY INC?
- BEACON ACADEMY INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 93 organizations whose IRS filings report $17,165,313 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($7,646,620). 56 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 72% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does BEACON ACADEMY INC have?
- IRS filings report 93 organizations giving $17,165,313 in grants to BEACON ACADEMY INC, 56 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BEACON ACADEMY INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $7,646,620 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BEACON ACADEMY INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Beacon Academy →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 93 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