Maryland · Nonprofit
Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn
Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn (Maryland) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $221,690 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF HOWARD COUNTY INC ($132,996). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 83% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $415k
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $222k
- Net assets
- $231k
What Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn does
Mission
Bright Minds improves education outcomes for all Howard County public school students by bringing together community support to address resource & opportunity gaps faced by students and educators
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Resources for Learning: Bright Minds has worked since its founding to remove barriers to learning and ensure students have access to resources they need to succeed. Bright Minds partners with HCPSS to provide emergency assistance and supplies to students experiencing homelessness to reduce education disruption and dropout. Bright Minds also supported investments in science and career and technical education technology, equipment, and supplies used in all high schools; the delivery of out-of-school credit recovery tutoring for at-risk students; and the distribution of 3,723 Chromebooks to families in need. Since 2020, Bright Minds has raised nearly $675,000 for critical educational resources and support that has reached students in all county schools.
$155,408 spentof which $89,019 as grants47% of program spendingTeacher Support & Development: Bright Minds Classroom Grants help educators pilot innovative instructional projects that support student success, enrich teaching practices, strengthen school communities, and pilot important projects that can be considered for broader implementation. Since 2009, Bright Minds has awarded $308,354 in grants to more than 200 educators. Bright Minds administers Teacher Externships, which provide summer workplace learning opportunities that strengthen teaching relevance and educator retention. During the last 4 years of the program, 16 externs were hosted by 10 area employers.
$84,840 spentof which $77,573 as grants25% of program spendingEarly Childhood Literacy: Since 2019, Bright Minds has served as the local affiliate for Dolly Partons nationally-recognized Imagination Library. Our Read With Me-Howard County program sends participating children an age-appropriate book each month from birth through age five. The program builds emergent literacy skills, inspires a love of reading, encourages parent-child interaction, and prepares children for kindergarten. More than 4,257 county children received 91,385 books thus far.
$52,126 spentof which $50,591 as grants16% of program spendingStudent Scholarships:Bright Minds administers memorial and honorary post-secondary scholarships that help make college more accessible for graduates. Bright Minds has also helped HCPSS students earn college credits and explore career options through the JumpStart dual enrollment program by providing books/course fee scholarships for students eligible for Free and Reduced Meals. Since 2015, Bright Minds has administered 25 scholarship funds and awarded $292,630 in scholarships to more than 650 students from all county schools.
$41,206 spentof which $38,300 as grants12% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $333,580.
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 2017 to 2018, from $204k to $107k (−48%).
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 51% · 2022 40% · 2023 31% · 2024 21% · 2025 21%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
83% of Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn’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. 5 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
Jennifer Van Kirk
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2018 and FY2019 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 4 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $60k → $164.
4 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 84% 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 Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn’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
Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn leans on a few funders — its largest provides 60% of grant income and the top three 83%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
95% 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 Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 78% · 2018 64% · 2019 94% · 2020 72% · 2021 61% · 2022 43% · 2023 100% — growing more concentrated.
“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
43% of Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 31% 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
83% of Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn'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 $37k that is directly attributable, 63% of it comes from funders outside Maryland, across 7 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $185k 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
Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn is better cushioned than half 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 Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn
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 Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
86%
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 Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn: 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 Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn?
- Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn (Maryland) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $221,690 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF HOWARD COUNTY INC ($132,996). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 83% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $221,690 in grants to Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn?
- THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF HOWARD COUNTY INC is the largest funder on record, with $132,996 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Howard Co Public Schools Education Fndn find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 13 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