Virginia · Nonprofit
GREAT ASPIRATIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM INC
GREAT ASPIRATIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM INC (Virginia) receives grants from 35 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,350,860 to it, the largest being THE TOWNSEND FOUNDATION INC ($300,000). 20 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.5M
- Funders on record
- 35
- Grants received
- $2.4M
- Net assets
- $5.6M
What Great Aspirations Scholarship Program Inc does
Mission
To provide resources to students and families in need to access financial aid, scholarships, private financial support and counseling to encourage and maximize each student's educational opportunities. Grasp's focus is on increasing college, technical school, and workforce credential access and graduation rates, particularly among families without sufficient financial resources to accomplish this without grasp's guidance and financial assistance.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2023 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
In 2024, GRASP launched the Pathways Scholarship Program, a new 4-year pilot initiative designed to help Richmond, Virginia's youth overcome the barriers that too often prevent them from reaching their full potential. Many young people in Richmond face significant but surmountable challenges as they transition from high school to postsecondary education. To address these barriers, the Pathways program will offer opportunities to explore postsecondary options, educate youth regarding setting and achieving long-term goals, and support youth to apply for financial aid and community college. In addition, participants will receive a scholarship and a monthly stipend to cover basic living needs for up to three years while attending community college. This program is a critical resource for keeping Richmond Public School students at risk of dropping out engaged and supported. Initial funding from the City of Richmond ensures that the program will be sustainable throughout its four-year pilot phase.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
GRASP is a non-profit organization specializing with helping students and their families, regardless of financial resources, to develop an educational plan for post secondary education. GRASP's professional financial aid advisors work in high schools and private settings, without charge to students and families, to assist with overcoming financial and motivational challenges to the goal of higher education.
$1,090,437 spent$449,983 earned by the program60% of program spendingUnique among many college access and success programs, GRASP operates several scholarship programs, including at least one scholarship for every school it serves. Students have the option to use these scholarships for 2-year, 4-year, and trade schools.
$390,770 spentof which $390,770 as grants$102,000 earned by the program21% of program spendingGRASP anticipates continuing to take advantage of the Virginia Neighborhood Assistance Tax Credit Program ("NAP") and Education Improvement Scholarship Program ("EISP"). The NAP and EISP programs provide significant tax incentives to Virginia private and business donors who support scholarships and other tuition assistance programs of (1) students and families of low to modest financial means and (2) provide scholastic assistance in developing post - secondary academic and vocational plans for children with one or more disabilities as defined under the federal IDEA legislation. The NAP program requires that more than 50% of GRASP tax credit derived revenues are used for education services in support of students and families with income at or below 300% of the recognized poverty level of income or 400% of the recognized poverty level for students with disabilities. The EISP Program, a scholarship program for students in K-12 who wish to attend a private school, requires that at least 90% of tax credit generated revenues under this program be paid out in scholarships for students at or below 300% of poverty, or in the case of students with disabilities, 400% of poverty by the end of…
$247,401 spentof which $247,401 as grants$376,338 earned by the program14% of program spendingIn 2024, GRASP launched the Pathways Scholarship Program, a new 4-year pilot initiative designed to help Richmond, Virginia's youth overcome the barriers that too often prevent them from reaching their full potential. Many young people in Richmond face significant but surmountable challenges as they transition from high school to postsecondary education. To address these barriers, the Pathways program will offer opportunities to explore postsecondary options, educate youth regarding setting and achieving long-term goals, and support youth to apply for financial aid and community college. In addition, participants will receive a scholarship and a monthly stipend to cover basic living needs for up to three years while attending community college. This program is a critical resource for keeping Richmond Public School students at risk of dropping out engaged and supported. Initial funding from the City of Richmond ensures that the program will be sustainable throughout its four-year pilot phase.
$99,339 spentof which $62,000 as grants$99,339 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,827,947.
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 $5.0M to $8.1M (+62%).
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 24% · 2018 25% · 2019 21% · 2020 37% · 2021 32% · 2022 35% · 2023 35% · 2024 29% · 2025 20%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
68% of GREAT ASPIRATIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2019 and FY2020 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 15 funders, grant income rose $62k → $423k.
12 of 35 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 35% 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 GREAT ASPIRATIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 35 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
GREAT ASPIRATIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 13% 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
46% 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 GREAT ASPIRATIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 49% · 2018 37% · 2019 41% · 2020 38% · 2021 23% · 2022 25% · 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
47% of GREAT ASPIRATIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 57% 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
74% of GREAT ASPIRATIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM INC's grant income comes from Virginia funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $811k arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
GREAT ASPIRATIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM INC holds deeper cash reserves 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
Organizations like GREAT ASPIRATIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM 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 Virginia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
89%
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 GREAT ASPIRATIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM 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 GREAT ASPIRATIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM INC?
- GREAT ASPIRATIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM INC (Virginia) receives grants from 35 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,350,860 to it, the largest being THE TOWNSEND FOUNDATION INC ($300,000). 20 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does GREAT ASPIRATIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM INC have?
- IRS filings report 35 organizations giving $2,350,860 in grants to GREAT ASPIRATIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM INC, 20 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of GREAT ASPIRATIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM INC?
- THE TOWNSEND FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $300,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like GREAT ASPIRATIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. 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 Great Aspirations Scholarship Program →
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 35 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