California · Nonprofit
Lilac Montessori
Lilac Montessori (California) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $45,125 to it, the largest being THE WILDFLOWER FOUNDATION ($40,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $316k
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $45k
- Net assets
- $-75207
What Lilac Montessori does
Mission
Lilac Montessori is a nonprofit early childhood education program providing Montessori-based learning for children ages 18 months through 5 years. The school operates a mixed-age Montessori classroom that supports children's independence, concentration, and social development. During the tax year, the organization provided daily classroom instruction, maintained Montessori learning materials and classroom environments, supported staff training and curriculum development, and maintained its educational facility to ensure a high-quality learning environment for enrolled students.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Lilac Montessori is an educational organization dedicated to providing Montessori-based early childhood education. During the tax year, the organization focused on preparing its educational facility, developing curriculum materials, and establishing administrative and operational systems necessary to support student enrollment. Activities included facility preparation, acquisition of educational equipment and materials, staff planning and training, and organizational oversight to ensure readiness for the upcoming school year. These efforts were undertaken to support the organization's mission of providing high-quality Montessori education to children in the community.
$227,898 spent$315,978 earned by the program100% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $227,898.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2023, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2023, 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 2024 to 2025, from $78k to $99k (+27%).
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.
7% of Lilac Montessori’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 3 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
Heather Zolzer
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
From the IRS filings of Lilac Montessori’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
Lilac Montessori leans on a few funders — its largest provides 89% 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 Lilac Montessori.
“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
Lilac Montessori draws 89% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 2 states in all.
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
Lilac Montessori has grown faster than three-quarters 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 Lilac Montessori
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Lilac Montessori: 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 Lilac Montessori?
- Lilac Montessori (California) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $45,125 to it, the largest being THE WILDFLOWER FOUNDATION ($40,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Lilac Montessori have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $45,125 in grants to Lilac Montessori, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Lilac Montessori?
- THE WILDFLOWER FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $40,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Lilac Montessori find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Lilac Montessori →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2023–2025), 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