New York · Nonprofit
I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION
I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION (New York) receives grants from 97 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,028,025 to it, the largest being EUGENE M LANG FOUNDATION ($1,223,615). 42 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $4.2M
- Funders on record
- 97
- Grants received
- $7.0M
- Net assets
- $2.4M
What I Have a Dream Foundation does
Mission
The "I have a dream" foundation (IHDF) expands educational opportunities for children living in under-resourced communities by empowering them to achieve higher education and providing them with guaranteed tuition support and equipping them with the skills and knowledge they need to gain entry to and succeed in college and beyond. We have learned a tremendous amout over the last 43 years. First, getting our students to college is critical but not enough. Second, we must embrace innovative ways of motivating and encouraging K-12 Dreamers as they prepare for College.Building on these insights, we have developed the following programs: (1) A postsecondary support program; and (2) a college savings account (CSA) Program. Both Programs are designed to encourage Dreamers, Families, communities and businesses to invest Directly into the success of our dreamers so that our students are equipped to not only start but complete college.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The I Have A Dream Foundation supports a national network of Affiliates and Chapters serving 2,332 Dream Scholars through a long-term, cohort-based model designed to ensure students graduate from high school prepared to enroll in and complete postsecondary pathways and enter productive careers. IHDF provides training, technical assistance, and programmatic resources to local affiliates and chapters, including best practice development, site visits, and ongoing coaching to strengthen program quality and student outcomes.In 2024, IHDF continued to invest in national infrastructure and program expansion, including professional development convenings, leadership training, and partnership development to increase access to academic, social-emotional, and career readiness resources. IHDF also operates Dream University Prep (Dream UP), a summer immersion program hosted on college campuses that exposes middle and high school students to postsecondary environments and expectations.These efforts are designed to improve long-term student outcomes, including college enrollment, persistence, and completion, while strengthening the capacity and consistency of programming across the IHDF network.
$3,240,720 spentof which $149,035 as grants100% of program spendingThe "I Have A Dream" Foundation (IHDF) strengthens and continuously improves its evidence-informed, long-term program model to improve outcomes for Dream Scholars across its national network of Affiliates and Chapters. Through ongoing evaluation, performance measurement, and strategic planning, IHDF identifies opportunities to enhance program quality, strengthen affiliate capacity, and ensure that Dream Scholars receive consistent, high-quality support from elementary school through postsecondary completion. In 2024, IHDF continued to strengthen its national network by launching a new Chapter in Atlanta, expanding Dream Scholar cohorts within existing Affiliates and Chapters, and enhancing program quality through Children's Savings Account initiatives, expanded postsecondary supports, and data-informed continuous improvement efforts. IHDF's long-term cohort model combines individualized academic support, social-emotional learning, family engagement, mentoring, college and career readiness, leadership development, and guaranteed tuition assistance to help Dream Scholars succeed in school, complete a postsecondary pathway, and pursue long-term economic mobility. These efforts are…
In 2024, the Foundation continued to strengthen its centralized data and performance management system to better track student outcomes, measure program effectiveness, and inform strategic decision-making across its national network. The Foundation monitors key performance indicators, including academic progress, high school graduation, postsecondary enrollment, persistence, and completion, to assess program impact, drive continuous improvement, and promote accountability at both the national and Affiliate/Chapter levels.
The "I Have A Dream" Foundation strengthens awareness, engagement, and support of its national network of Affiliates and Chapters to expand educational opportunities for children in under-resourced communities. IHDF manages national communications platforms, including its website, digital channels, and media relations, to elevate the voices and experiences of Dream Scholars, share program impact, and increase public understanding of IHDF's long-term, cohort-based model.In 2024, IHDF expanded its national visibility and strategic partnerships by supporting Affiliates and Chapters in engaging local stakeholders, strengthening relationships with schools, funders, volunteers, and civic leaders, and increasing awareness of opportunities to support Dream Scholars.
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,240,720.
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 $4.4M to $3.2M (−28%).
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: 2022 8% · 2023 7% · 2024 13%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
102% of I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (93% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 7 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
Richard Saltzman
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018, and between the FY2021 and FY2022 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 23 funders to 30 funders, grant income rose $324k → $939k.
10 of 97 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 13% 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 I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 97 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
I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 17% 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
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 17% · 2018 25% · 2019 35% · 2020 43% · 2021 42% · 2022 28% · 2023 27% — 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
27% of I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 43% 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
57% of I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $938k arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION's funding base is broadening — from 23 funders to 30 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,337 crime & legal nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.0M on record.
- Department of Justice$1.5M
- Corporation for National and Community Service$500k
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 I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION
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 York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
73%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 33 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION: 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 I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION?
- I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION (New York) receives grants from 97 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,028,025 to it, the largest being EUGENE M LANG FOUNDATION ($1,223,615). 42 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 97 organizations giving $7,028,025 in grants to I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION, 42 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION?
- EUGENE M LANG FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,223,615 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like I HAVE A DREAM FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 97 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