Illinois · Nonprofit
DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION
DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,057,327 to it, the largest being HOWARD G BUFFETT FOUNDATION ($1,697,085). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $899k
- Funders on record
- 17
- Grants received
- $3.1M
- Net assets
- $2.4M
What Decatur Public Schools Foundation does
Mission
Promote public education by assisting the decatur public schools in providing quality programs through making funds available for approved grants.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The dps foundation generates funds to support a number of additional designated funds and special projects. These range from the performing arts to stem to community engagement activities, and vary year to year based on donor interest. This category (designated projects and programs) has grown substantially in the past several years. Donor-designated programs encompass a wide range of activities supported as directed by the contributor. Undesignated funds raised support all aspects of grant program management and operations and covered the costs to implement grants within the pre-k through high school enrichment programming.
$365,453 spentof which $365,453 as grants48% of program spendingThe largest number of students incorporates an agriculture academy and civic leadership institute. Students participate in career-exploration and community engagement activities, which combine to incorporate approximately 500 participants on an annual basis. Activities engage students at the high school and middle school grade levels.
$347,541 spentof which $347,541 as grants46% of program spendingOperation calculus provides school year and summer boot camp support to african-american students at both eisenhower and macarthur high schools. Program coordinators offer structured academic and social support activities to encourage students to enroll in the highest level math courses, and to stay on track from promotion from middle school to high school during the often-difficult 8th/9th grade transition. High school students are afforded an opportunity to visit a historically black college or university at the conclusion of each school year, and middle school students are provided with summer bridge tutoring and mentoring. Over the life of the program, 100% of the seniors to date have graduated and were accpted into college.
$49,778 spentof which $49,778 as grants7% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $762,772.
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 $2.2M to $4.0M (+80%).
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.
91% of DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 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
Zach Shields
Executive director
Board chair
Adrian Walker
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 6 funders, grant income fell $351k → $105k.
4 of 17 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 14% 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 DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION’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
DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 56% of grant income and the top three 75%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 88% · 2018 97% · 2019 35% · 2020 43% · 2021 45% · 2022 78% · 2023 34% — 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
58% of DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% 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
95% of DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $419k 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
DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 16,849 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 16,849 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION
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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: 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 DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION?
- DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,057,327 to it, the largest being HOWARD G BUFFETT FOUNDATION ($1,697,085). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 17 organizations giving $3,057,327 in grants to DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION, 11 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION?
- HOWARD G BUFFETT FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,697,085 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DECATUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
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 17 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