Maryland · Nonprofit
Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Inc
Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Inc (Maryland) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $265,515 to it, the largest being GREATER WASHINGTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($93,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.0M
- Funders on record
- 7
- Grants received
- $266k
- Net assets
- $672k
What Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Inc does
Mission
Copaa's mission is to protect and enforce the legal and civil rights of students with disabilities and their families. The primary goal is to secure high quality educational services for children with disabilities.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Staff time spent on various committees such as government relations, amicus, training, etc. As well as certain lobbying activities. Coppa participates both as counsel and organizational plaintiffs in state and national impact litigation to protect student and parent rights under the law.
$233,050 spent20% of program spendingA series of 90-minute informational webinars from the annual conference are available in the learning center. Learning paths on topics related to the mission are also available to the membership and colleagues. In addition, special education advocacy training (seat) was offered as a combination of self-paced web learning, readings, group and individual assignments as well as live virtual classrooms. Provide specific technical assistance topic briefs on subject of importance to copaa members. Coppa provides a 12 week online training on special education law and related services for attorneys each year.
$289,283 spent$402,903 earned by the program25% of program spendingEach year in march members and prospective members gather for the copaa annual conference. The conference changes location each year, alternating in different regions of the country. The copaa conference provides unique opportunities for training and networking with the most experienced and knowledgeable special education advocates and attorneys on particular educational issues. Exhibits, breakouts, networking, and pre-conference sessions are all included. Participants attend the conference to learn about the most recent cases, legislative changes, and the latest disability specific educational interventions. Approximately 600 registrants attend the conference each year.
$366,615 spent$538,468 earned by the program32% of program spendingOutreach, information and engagement
$274,822 spent$275,940 earned by the program24% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,163,770.
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 $888k to $1.3M (+46%).
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: 2022 4% · 2023 1% · 2024 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
35% of Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Inc’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (82% 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.
Chief executive
Denise Marshall
CEO
Board chair
David Jefferson
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income fell $33k → $15k.
4 of 7 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 45% 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 Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Inc’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
Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 35% of grant income and the top three 78%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
86% 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 Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 97% · 2021 82% · 2022 51% · 2023 99% — broadly stable.
“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.
Where its funders are
Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Inc draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Maryland, across 3 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $119k 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.
Against its field
Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Inc runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 1,928 youth development nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,928 youth development nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates 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
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
91% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
87%
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 Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates 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 Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Inc?
- Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Inc (Maryland) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $265,515 to it, the largest being GREATER WASHINGTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($93,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Inc have?
- IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $265,515 in grants to Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Inc, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Inc?
- GREATER WASHINGTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $93,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates 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.
Play a game about who funds Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates →
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 7 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