Illinois · Nonprofit
National Postsecondary Strategy Institute
National Postsecondary Strategy Institute (Illinois) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,329,159 to it, the largest being THE KRESGE FOUNDATION ($685,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $558k
- Funders on record
- 7
- Grants received
- $1.3M
- Net assets
- $140k
What National Postsecondary Strategy Institute does
Mission
The advancement of education and lessening the burdens of government by assisting public school districts, charter management organizations, and not-for-profit organizations in developing and implementing college and career readiness strategies to increase the number of students--particularly first-generation, low-income, and minority students--entering and being successful in postsecondary institutions.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
National Postsecondary Strategy Institute offers national conferences, regional conferences and webinars to support school districts in developing their postsecondary framework and strategies.
$892,732 spentof which $25,000 as grants$542,735 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2023 Form 990. Program spending in total: $892,732.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 $549k to $236k (−57%).
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.
0% of National Postsecondary Strategy Institute’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. 3 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.
Chief executive
Kelly Sparks
Executive Director
Board chair
Greg Darnieder
Board President & Interim
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 5 funders, grant income rose $150k → $377k.
2 of 7 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 2% 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 National Postsecondary Strategy Institute’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
National Postsecondary Strategy Institute leans on a few funders — its largest provides 52% of grant income and the top three 88%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 95% · 2021 88% · 2022 27% · 2023 33% — 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.
Where its funders are
National Postsecondary Strategy Institute draws 80% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 4 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $25k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
National Postsecondary Strategy Institute 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 National Postsecondary Strategy Institute
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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
63% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
84%
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 National Postsecondary Strategy Institute: 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 National Postsecondary Strategy Institute?
- National Postsecondary Strategy Institute (Illinois) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,329,159 to it, the largest being THE KRESGE FOUNDATION ($685,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does National Postsecondary Strategy Institute have?
- IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $1,329,159 in grants to National Postsecondary Strategy Institute, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of National Postsecondary Strategy Institute?
- THE KRESGE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $685,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like National Postsecondary Strategy Institute find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. 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 2019–2025), and the filings of 7 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