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North Carolina · Nonprofit

CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP

CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP (North Carolina) receives grants from 20 organizations whose IRS filings report $60,532,367 to it, the largest being WK Kellogg Foundation ($23,986,158). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$134M
Funders on record
20
Grants received
$61M
Net assets
$81M
13/20 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 20%
01What it does

What Center for Creative Leadership does

Mission

To advance the understanding, practice, and development of leadership for the benefit of society worldwide. The center conducts research, produces publications and provides a broad variety of educational programs to leaders and organizations in the public, corporate and nonprofit sectors.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. W.k. Kellogg foundation is an innovative fellowship for leaders to connect, grow, and lead transformational change in the united states. The 18-month fellowship program offers hands-on training, personalized coaching, community-based support, and practical project experience. It brings together 80 inspiring leaders from across the united states and sovereign tribes, with four cohorts of fellows from wkkf's priority places of michigan, mississippi, new mexico, and new orleans, as well as one national u.s. Cohort. Over the course of a year and a half, fellows deepen their knowledge and skills for navigating today's challenges and learning to authentically engage in their communities. In addition, fellows become part of a vast network of 1700 plus alumni.

    $3,987,376 spent$3,987,376 earned by the program
    3% of program spending

  2. Leadership development program (ldp): ldp is Center for Creative Leadership's ("ccl") flagship executive education program and is attended by more executives worldwide than any similar type program. Participants of the program tend to be middle to senior level executives from the private, military, education, and nonprofit sectors. The program gives participants the option of live-online or on-site instruction surrounded by intense pre and post work assignments. The primary objective of the program is to assist the participant in increasing his or her leadership capacity through a feedback intensive learning experience and hands-on activities. During the fiscal year ended march 31, 2025, 986 participants attended the ldp program.

    $2,033,249 spent$7,228,027 earned by the program
    2% of program spending

  3. Leading for organizational impact (loi): loi is one of the Center for Creative Leadership's premier executive education programs, designed specifically for senior leaders responsible for business units, divisions, or organizational functions. The program equips participants to balance short-term tactical demands with long-term strategic priorities, enhancing their ability to lead across boundaries and shape enterprise-wide outcomes. Through immersive learning experiences in a dynamic, peer-based learning environment, leaders leave the program with the skills and support necessary to be more strategically effective within their organizations. During the fiscal year ended march 31, 2025, 472 participants attended the loi program.

    $1,293,562 spent$4,680,343 earned by the program
    1% of program spending

  4. Leadership at the peak (lap)

    $1,138,360 spent$3,120,223 earned by the program
    1% of program spending

  5. Maximizing leadership potential (mlp)

    $531,496 spent$1,756,096 earned by the program
    0% of program spending

  6. Other program services. In addition to the programs previousy listed, ccl also offers numerous additional face to face and virtual educational programs to the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Ccl strives to make our programs available to all sectors of society. Each year, ccl identifies segments of the population who do not have the resources to afford ccl programs without some financial assistance. Those audiences are generally individuals from the nonprofit or education sectors, youth or individuals from disadvantaged regions and developing countries. Ccl then provides financial assistance to these audiences through scholarships, third-party funding or below market priced fees.

    $110,343,733 spent$97,316,141 earned by the program
    92% of program spending

The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $119,327,776.

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 ($118M) Expenses 100 ($104M) Net assets 100 ($123M)2018 Revenue 94 ($111M) Expenses 109 ($113M) Net assets 98 ($121M)2019 Revenue 103 ($122M) Expenses 118 ($123M) Net assets 94 ($116M)2020 Revenue 100 ($117M) Expenses 124 ($129M) Net assets 79 ($97M)2021 Revenue 47 ($56M) Expenses 81 ($84M) Net assets 61 ($75M)2022 Revenue 90 ($107M) Expenses 98 ($102M) Net assets 64 ($79M)2023 Revenue 105 ($124M) Expenses 119 ($123M) Net assets 59 ($73M)2024 Revenue 116 ($137M) Expenses 131 ($136M) Net assets 71 ($88M)2025 Revenue 113 ($134M) Expenses 131 ($136M) Net assets 66 ($81M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (113)Expenses (131)Net assets (66)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 $151M to $129M (−15%).

$151M
$154M
$151M
$129M
$109M
$127M
$132M
$145M
$132M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
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
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2022 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

0% of CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (14% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 731 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$14M
’17
−$2.7M
’18
−$963k
’19
−$11M
’20
−$28M
’21
$4.3M
’22
$32k
’23
$637k
’24
−$2.6M
’25
1.9
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

Martin S Schneider

President & CEO

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed484748464947464142
Joined·+3+9+9+13+10+9+2+6
No longer listed·481110121075
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 9 funders, grant income fell $4.4M → $3.9M.

Funder
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
'23
'24*
'25*
total
The Golden Leaf Incunclassified
$9.0M
funders
3
6
7
5
10
10
9
7
5

4 of 20 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 0% 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 CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP’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

CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP leans on a few funders — its largest provides 40% of grant income and the top three 82%; half comes from just 2 funders.

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

40%
largest funder
82%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 62% · 2018 55% · 2019 62% · 2020 60% · 2021 34% · 2022 91% · 2023 86% — 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

45% of CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% give in more than one year at all.

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

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

CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP draws 79% of its grant income from funders outside North Carolina, across 10 states in all.

IL
MI
NY
NJ
CO
MO
MD
NC
DC
TX

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

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

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $172k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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

CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP is better cushioned than half of the 679 education nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−2% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve1.9mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)2% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 679 education nonprofits over $100M, FY2025

Government funding CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $11.7M on record — $11.7M federal, $8k state.

Federal$11.7M
grants $0contracts $11.7M
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Top agencies
  • Department of Defense$10.0M
  • Department of Commerce$258k
  • Department of Energy$201k
  • Department of State$182k
  • Department of Homeland Security$163k
  • Government Accountability Office$155k
State$8k
03
04
05
20
By state
  • FL$8k
  • NJ$161

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 CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP

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 North Carolina

Central Piedmont Community College Foundation Inc76%Cin Inc73%North Carolina Center for Nonprofit Organizations Inc73%The John Locke Foundation Inc73%The Center for Craft Creativity & Design Inc72%Classical Liberals in the Carolinas72%Leadership Edge Incorporated72%Ophthalmic World Leaders72%

Nationally

Corporate Leadership Center Nfp81%Cleveland Leadership Center81%National Medal of Honor Center for Leadership80%Center for Expanding Leadership and Opportunity Inc80%Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation79%Leadership New Mexico79%Alpha Kappa Psi Fraternity Inc79%Learning Forward78%
05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

88% of spending goes to programs.

Program 88%Management 11%Fundraising 1%

Governance

18
board members
94%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 3 states

MT
CA
NC

Part of a family of 11 related entities

  • Center for Creative Leadership (Ccl) Pte Ltd · corp_trust
  • Center for Creative Leadership LLC · corp_trust
  • Center for Creative Leadership India Private Limited · corp_trust
  • Center for Creative Leadership Proprietary Ltd · corp_trust
  • Center for Creative Leadership Greater China Pte Ltd · corp_trust

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP?
CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP (North Carolina) receives grants from 20 organizations whose IRS filings report $60,532,367 to it, the largest being WK Kellogg Foundation ($23,986,158). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP have?
IRS filings report 20 organizations giving $60,532,367 in grants to CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP, 13 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP?
WK Kellogg Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $23,986,158 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like CENTER FOR CREATIVE LEADERSHIP find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. 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 Center for Creative Leadership →

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 20 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