New Jersey · Nonprofit
ESCALA INITIATIVE INC
ESCALA INITIATIVE INC (New Jersey) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,894,116 to it, the largest being THE VANECH FAMILY FOUNDATION ($275,000). 19 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
- $309k
- Funders on record
- 22
- Grants received
- $1.9M
- Net assets
- $147k
What Escala Initiative Inc does
Mission
Organization formed exclusively for charitable, educational, scientific, religious and other purposes. (collectively, "charitable purposes") as specified in irs code sec. 501(c)(3). The organization shall engage in charitable activities and providing education which focuses on empowering disadvantaged entrepreneurs and artisans - the majority of whom are women - who live in poverty around the world. The organization provides basic education and gives people the tools to build the future they want for themselves, their families and their communities. Through escala's renowned business school and capacity building program, women and other from low resource communities are learning how to become profitable and self-sufficient entrepreneurs, helping them earn a dignified living income and better serve their communities.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
With over 25 transformative projects, escala has always been dedicated to alleviating poverty and helping people reach their full potential through female-focused entrepreneurial education. Our programs and curriculum provide women and others from low-resource communities the necessary knowledge and resource to become profitable and self-sufficient entrepreneurs, helping them earn a living income. Our work ensures people have the economic means to support themselves and their families, building brighter futures and more resilient communities for generations to come. Our goal is to provide this support to all who need it.
Other program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$378,070 spentof which $314,254 as grants$314,254 earned by the program100% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $378,070.
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 2022 to 2023, from $298k to $104k (−65%).
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: 2021 10%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of ESCALA INITIATIVE INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (100% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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 broadened from 6 funders to 10 funders, grant income rose $110k → $278k.
9 of 22 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 55% 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 ESCALA INITIATIVE 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
ESCALA INITIATIVE INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 15% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
58% 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 ESCALA INITIATIVE INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 41% · 2018 22% · 2019 25% · 2020 25% · 2021 26% · 2022 20% · 2023 24% — 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
40% of ESCALA INITIATIVE INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 86% 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
54% of ESCALA INITIATIVE INC'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 $862k that is directly attributable, 57% of it comes from New Jersey funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
ESCALA INITIATIVE INC's revenue grew 24% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,673 international nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like ESCALA INITIATIVE 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 New Jersey
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
100% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
47%
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 ESCALA INITIATIVE 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 ESCALA INITIATIVE INC?
- ESCALA INITIATIVE INC (New Jersey) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,894,116 to it, the largest being THE VANECH FAMILY FOUNDATION ($275,000). 19 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 ESCALA INITIATIVE INC have?
- IRS filings report 22 organizations giving $1,894,116 in grants to ESCALA INITIATIVE INC, 19 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ESCALA INITIATIVE INC?
- THE VANECH FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $275,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ESCALA INITIATIVE INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New Jersey. 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 Escala Initiative →
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 22 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing