Illinois · Nonprofit
GOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING
GOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING (Illinois) receives grants from 98 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,010,804 to it, the largest being Fulk Family Foundation Inc ($2,550,000). 58 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $17M
- Funders on record
- 98
- Grants received
- $13M
- Net assets
- $6.6M
What Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching does
Mission
To inspire, develop and support teacher and school leader excellence in illinois, especially in schools-of-need.because the critical contributor to student achievement is the quality of the teacher in the classroom, golden apple provides exceptional teacher preparation for teachers at all stages of their careers. Through the organization's innovative programs offering method, resource and mentorship, the organization works to transform teachers and teaching, enriching both student and teacher lives.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Scholars of illinois - the scholars of illinois program identifies talented high school seniors and college freshmen and sophomores who have the promise and drive to be excellent teachers in high-need schools. The program prepares them for immediate and lasting success in the most challenging environments. The program welcomed over 4,000 statewide participants and is designed to address the urgent need for resilient and highly effective teachers serving illinois students in economically and educationally disadvantaged schools. The program provides tuition assistance to each future teacher while they pursue an undergraduate education. The scholars participate in a comprehensive series of pre-student-teaching internships; mentoring and course work delivered by golden apple award-winning teachers.
$5,030,263 spentof which $286,408 as grants$1,564,088 earned by the program54% of program spendingAccelerators - the golden apple accelerator program provides a path to teaching for career-changers and college seniors who commit to living and teaching in targeted school districts in the southern, central, and western illinois for four years after obtaining their license.
$2,152,345 spentof which $1,301,245 as grants$73,004 earned by the program23% of program spendingNew mexico scholar program was started in 2022.
$1,158,381 spent13% of program spendingAwards program - the awards program is comprised of a recognition program for teachers and school leaders who demonstrate mastery in teaching across the state of illinois. We support them with cash awards, a sabbatical at northwestern university, and membership in our academy of educators. We also host recognition events for the awards finalists, a "celebration of excellence and the "awards for excellence in teaching and ledership" for the ulitmate award recipients.
$508,385 spentof which $508,385 as grants6% of program spendingImpact awards
$390,510 spentof which $390,510 as grants4% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $9,239,884.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2018 to 2019, from $5.7M to $8.4M (+49%).
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: 2017 65% · 2018 75% · 2019 62% · 2020 70% · 2021 69% · 2022 61% · 2023 58% · 2024 83%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
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
Alicia Winckler
CEO
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 21 funders to 44 funders, grant income rose $488k → $1.7M.
21 of 98 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 24% 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 GOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 98 funders by total. 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
GOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
42% 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 GOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 33% · 2018 23% · 2019 39% · 2020 53% · 2021 52% · 2022 13% · 2023 18% — 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
44% of GOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% 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
GOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING draws 71% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 14 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 16 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.
Organizations like GOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING
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
90% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
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 GOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING: 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 GOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING?
- GOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING (Illinois) receives grants from 98 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,010,804 to it, the largest being Fulk Family Foundation Inc ($2,550,000). 58 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does GOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING have?
- IRS filings report 98 organizations giving $13,010,804 in grants to GOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING, 58 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of GOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING?
- Fulk Family Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $2,550,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like GOLDEN APPLE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING 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.
Play a game about who funds Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching →
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 98 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