California · Nonprofit
BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION
BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION (California) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,185,531 to it, the largest being ONE8 FOUNDATION ($3,504,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $12M
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $12M
- Net assets
- $9.5M
What Buck Institute for Education does
Mission
At pblworks, we build the capacity of teachers to design and facilitate quality project based learning and the capacity of school and system leaders to set the conditions for teachers to implement great projects with all students.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2023 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
Post covid-19 we shifted from online only model to a hybrid model utilizing onsite and online modes for professional development workshops.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Teacher professional development services - Buck Institute for Education provides professional development services to hundreds of schools yearly in the u.s. And abroad, giving teachers the skills and knowledge needed to design, assess, and manage rigorous, relevant, and standards-based projects through our foundational gold standard pbl 101 workshop and sustained support visits.
$5,894,478 spent$4,969,104 earned by the program37% of program spendingDistrict implementation support services - Buck Institute for Education provides pbl implementation support services to dozens of u.s. School districts, supporting more than 20,000 teachers and leaders nationwide. With this three-year partnership, Buck Institute for Education not only supports the development of teachers with our teacher professional development services but also focuses on the leadership and organizational development needed to sustain system-wide gold standard pbl implementation.
$3,720,536 spent$2,457,002 earned by the program23% of program spendingBuck Institute for Education offers conferences for project based learning (pbl) that include professional learning opportunities for teachers, leaders, and instructional coaches. These events include Buck Institute for Education's exemplary workshops, inspiring keynote speakers, and community building opportunities to catalyze transformational change in teaching and learning. Pbl world is hosted by Buck Institute for Education and it's the premier conference for project based learning. Pblworld 2023 was hosted in person.
$671,281 spent$2,188,365 earned by the program4% of program spendingPublications & books sales, online learning platform
$5,691,486 spent$5,195,519 earned by the program36% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $15,977,781.
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 $14M to $11M (−20%).
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 11% · 2021 8% · 2022 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
11% of BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 5 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $2.3M → $4.2M.
4 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 4% 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 BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION’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
BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 29% of grant income and the top three 68%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
43% 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 BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 35% · 2018 89% · 2019 100% · 2020 43% · 2021 97% · 2022 100% · 2023 46% — 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
22% of BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 38% 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
BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION draws 82% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 6 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $541k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION is better cushioned than half of the 4,064 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,064 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $107k on record.
- MA$107k
- NJ$42
- FL$25
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 BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION
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
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
77%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION: 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 BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION?
- BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION (California) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,185,531 to it, the largest being ONE8 FOUNDATION ($3,504,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $12,185,531 in grants to BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION?
- ONE8 FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $3,504,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BUCK INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION 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 Buck Institute for Education →
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 13 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