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California · Nonprofit

BridgeUSA Group

BridgeUSA Group (California) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,775,855 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($1,244,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

Revenue FY2025
$1.5M
Funders on record
18
Grants received
$2.8M
Net assets
$884k
7/18 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 47%
01What it does

What BridgeUSA Group does

Mission

Youth Civic Engagement & Education: BridgeUSA is developing the next generation of engaged, informed, and constructive citizens.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Build chapters on college and high school campuses: BridgeUSA chapters are student led clubs on campus that welcome students into constructive discussion. Discussions are not meant to change one's mind but encourage participants to seek an understanding of different perspectives. They host discussions and events on campus pressing political, social, and cultural issues, invite students to engage in respectful discussions and work with other student organizations on campus to promote constructive dialogue.

    $519,890 spent$61,513 earned by the program
    42% of program spending
  2. Annual National Student Summit: The BridgeUSA national summit brings together college and high school students from across the country to discuss how we can facilitate open conversation and dialogue on our respective campuses.

    $228,149 spent
    18% of program spending
  3. Advocacy and Thought Leadership around Bridge Building: BridgeUSA is working towards cultural breakthrough of bridge building as an option for people who are tired of partisan politics and looking for alternative ways to engage with others. We achieve this through partnerships, social media campaigns, and marketing work.

    $494,690 spent$16,667 earned by the program
    40% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,242,729.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 = 20192019 Revenue 100 ($151k) Expenses 100 ($84k) Net assets 100 ($76k)2020 Revenue 140 ($211k) Expenses 310 ($260k) Net assets 36 ($27k)2021 Revenue 366 ($551k) Expenses 349 ($293k) Net assets 375 ($286k)2022 Revenue 532 ($802k) Expenses 921 ($774k) Net assets 412 ($314k)2023 Revenue 622 ($937k) Expenses 1128 ($947k) Net assets 408 ($311k)2024 Revenue 526 ($793k) Expenses 670 ($563k) Net assets 1406 ($1.1M)2025 Revenue 1011 ($1.5M) Expenses 2037 ($1.7M) Net assets 1161 ($884k)
2019202020212022202320242025
Revenue (1011)Expenses (2037)Net assets (1161)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 2023 to 2024, from $311k to $1.1M (+263%).

$76k
$27k
$286k
$321k
$311k
$1.1M
$904k
2019202020212022202320242025
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.

2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

95% of BridgeUSA Group’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (48% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 12,352 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.

$67k
’19
−$49k
’20
$258k
’21
$28k
’22
−$10k
’23
$231k
’24
−$186k
’25
5.6
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

Manu Meel

Chief Executive Officer

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

202020212022202320242025
Listed46711115
Joined·+3+1+7+0+0
No longer listed·10306
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $100k → $290k.

6 of 18 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 54% 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 BridgeUSA Group’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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

BridgeUSA Group leans on a few funders — its largest provides 45% of grant income and the top three 66%; half comes from just 2 funders.

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

57% 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 BridgeUSA Group.

45%
largest funder
66%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 50% · 2021 83% · 2022 67% · 2023 31% — diversifying over time.

“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

20% of BridgeUSA Group's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 39% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y

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

54% of BridgeUSA Group'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 $1.3M that is directly attributable, 98% of it comes from funders outside California, across 7 states.

MI
NY
NV
PA
CA
CO
DE

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

’20
’21
’22
’23
California out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

BridgeUSA Group has grown faster than three-quarters of the 9,398 education nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−12% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve5.6mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)47% · top quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,398 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Organizations like BridgeUSA Group

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 California

Nationally

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

73% of spending goes to programs.

Program 73%Management 26%Fundraising 2%

Governance

3
board members
100%
independent
–Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

40%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

CA

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BridgeUSA Group: 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 BridgeUSA Group?
BridgeUSA Group (California) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,775,855 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($1,244,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does BridgeUSA Group have?
IRS filings report 18 organizations giving $2,775,855 in grants to BridgeUSA Group, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of BridgeUSA Group?
NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $1,244,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like BridgeUSA Group find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 BridgeUSA Group →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2019–2025), and the filings of 18 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