Texas · Nonprofit
KNOWLEDGE-FIRST
KNOWLEDGE-FIRST (Texas) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $125,000 to it, the largest being THE HOUSTON FUND FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ECONOMIC EQUITY ($100,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $141k
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $125k
- Net assets
- $68k
What Knowledge-First does
Mission
We provide Dropout Prevention Program to low income and homeless individuals who have experienced "personal hardships". We served 345 students an opportunity to obtain their High School Diploma so that they can become employable and/or earn a higher salary. This educational component is essential to them gaining needed skills that will allow them to be self-sufficient. These individuals become contributors to society. We also certified by the Texas Workforce Commission. We provided 185 low income individuals vocational training that allowed them to obtain a skill where they became self-sufficient and were able to earn employment.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
Knowledge-First Empowerment Center provides educational services that inspire exceptionality while providing for the attainment of proficiencies that lead to lifelong resiliency. We provide various opportunities for learners to engage and contribute in higher level thinking activities as we fashion our academic and enrichment components to inspire critical and diverse thinking. These educational components augment the reasoning capability and maximize the unique potential of all learners. The Knowledge-First Empowerment Center's accredited high school program addresses the need of all learners, but most especially those who have experienced *personal hardship and who are NOW ready to maximize their potential! Our educational services fulfill course requirements and will enable our learners to earn a high school diploma or complete an alternative path to college by demonstrating college readiness. Any student who are between the ages of 16 and 65 qualify. As a member of the National Dropout Prevention Network, we provide maximum flexibility to meet individual student needs, including open entry to and open exit from program, a variety of instructional programming, including small…
$62,600 spentof which $68,000 as grants55% of program spendingSince 2001, the Knowledge-First Empowerment Center has been specializing in preparing today's learners to meet today's educational and employment demands and the systemic challenges of tomorrow. Accredited by SACS and Advanc-ED in 2013, our High School Diploma/Dropout Prevention Project serves the community and students as: (1) Students fulfill graduation requirements and raise their standard of living and self-fulfillment, (2) School districts obtain a lower dropout rate, better disciplinary results and better test scores (3) Knowledge-First helps the community by providing a more educated and community-minded group of individuals (4) expanding our community's tax base by raising their standard of living, (5) reduce the health costs and (6) reduce the drain on our public assistance programs and (7) reduces the crime rate. In addition to classroom assignments, students devote at least four hours per month on volunteer community service opportunities and/or educational endeavors. Our team not only addresses the intellectual capacities, but moreover create an environment where education is characterize by the attainment of a variety of proficiencies that lead to lifelong resiliency.…
$52,000 spentof which $60,000 as grants45% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $114,600.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 2022 to 2023, from $53k to $60k (+12%).
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.
62% of KNOWLEDGE-FIRST’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. 0 of the last 6 reported years ran a deficit.
Leadership and staff
Chief executive
James H Allen
Executive director
As listed on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2022: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $25k → $50k.
From the IRS filings of KNOWLEDGE-FIRST’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
KNOWLEDGE-FIRST leans on a few funders — its largest provides 80% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 KNOWLEDGE-FIRST.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2022 100% — broadly stable.
“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.
Where its funders are
100% of KNOWLEDGE-FIRST's grant income comes from Texas funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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
KNOWLEDGE-FIRST's funding has concentrated — grant income rose while the number of funders held roughly flat.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 16,849 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like KNOWLEDGE-FIRST
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 Texas
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
77%
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 KNOWLEDGE-FIRST: 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 KNOWLEDGE-FIRST?
- KNOWLEDGE-FIRST (Texas) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $125,000 to it, the largest being THE HOUSTON FUND FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ECONOMIC EQUITY ($100,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does KNOWLEDGE-FIRST have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $125,000 in grants to KNOWLEDGE-FIRST, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of KNOWLEDGE-FIRST?
- THE HOUSTON FUND FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ECONOMIC EQUITY is the largest funder on record, with $100,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like KNOWLEDGE-FIRST find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Texas. 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 Knowledge-First →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2018–2025), and the filings of 2 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