Florida · Nonprofit
Florida Debate Initiative Inc
Florida Debate Initiative Inc (Florida) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $9,600 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($9,600). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.0M
- Funders on record
- 1
- Grants received
- $10k
- Net assets
- $926k
What Florida Debate Initiative Inc does
Mission
The Florida Debate Initiative FDI expands access to competitive speech and debate opportunities for Florida students by providing financial support training and educational resources to schools coaches and students. FDI partners with the Florida Civics and Debate Initiative to promote civic literacy communication and leadership skills statewide.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
FDI serves as the educational support organization for the Florida Civics and Debate Initiative FCDI a statewide program to expand speech and debate education in public private and charter schools. FDI provides funding for tournament operations instructional materials and statewide leadership events. During the fiscal year FDI supported over 207 schools 1400 students participating in our programs 1400 volunteers helped run our tournaments and over 20,800 Bright Futures hours were earned by students during the year.
$438,828 spent30% of program spendingFDI conducts training sessions workshops and leadership development programs for coaches judges and students to strengthen the quality and sustainability of debate programs. Activities include professional development seminars instructional resources and certification support for new coaches with an emphasis on underserved and rural schools.
$302,439 spent21% of program spendingFDI funds and coordinates regional and statewide debate tournaments providing financial and logistical support to host schools. The organization helps remove barriers to participation by covering registration fees travel stipends and event management costs. These tournaments cultivate civic engagement teamwork and public speaking skills among student participants.
$176,959 spent12% of program spendingThe Florida Debate Initiative FDI incurs a range of administrative and program support expenses necessary to fulfil its mission. These expenditures are allowable and approved under the Department of Education grant and directly support FDIs mission to expand access to speech and debate education statewide. Program service costs include: Insurance office supplies postage dues and utilities required to maintain operations and communications. Audiovisual and communications materials used in statewide outreach training and tournament promotion. Professional consultants including Alumni Association Grants Management Development Programs Administrative Project Coordination Accounting Fiscal Officer Financial Audit and Public Relations who provide specialized expertise program delivery compliance financial oversight and stakeholder engagement. Senior Advisor and President services for program strategy partnership coordination and overall organizational leadership. These operational costs collectively ensure compliance with grant requirements support effective program management and sustain the delivery of high-quality debate and civics education opportunities across Florida.
$532,433 spent37% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,450,659.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 $526k to $1.1M (+103%).
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 45% · 2021 98% · 2022 99% · 2023 99% · 2024 97% · 2025 100%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of Florida Debate Initiative Inc’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 6 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.
Board chair
Tara L Tedrow
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
1 of 1 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 100% 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 Florida Debate 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.
Where its funders are
100% of Florida Debate 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. Too little is directly attributable to place on a map.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $10k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
Florida Debate Initiative Inc has grown faster than three-quarters of the 9,398 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,398 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding Florida Debate Initiative Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $265 on record.
- REFUNDS - GENERAL $265
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 Florida Debate 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 Florida
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
95% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Florida Debate 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 Florida Debate Initiative Inc?
- Florida Debate Initiative Inc (Florida) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $9,600 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($9,600). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Florida Debate Initiative Inc have?
- IRS filings report 1 organization giving $9,600 in grants to Florida Debate Initiative Inc.
- Who is the largest funder of Florida Debate Initiative Inc?
- NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC is the largest funder on record, with $9,600 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Florida Debate Initiative Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Florida. 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 2020–2025), and the filings of 1 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