New York · Nonprofit
NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO
NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO (New York) receives grants from 91 organizations whose IRS filings report $15,469,644 to it, the largest being Chispa Foundation ($3,974,936). 62 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $26M
- Funders on record
- 91
- Grants received
- $15M
- Net assets
- $108M
What Nichols School of Buffalo does
Mission
Our aim is to train minds, bodies and hearts for the work of life and to carry into all we do the highest ideals of character and service.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Education/faculty - nichols school's excellence begins with its faculty. We spend the majority of the school's resources to ensure we recruit, hire and retain the highest qualified faculty. We also believe in on-going training for our faculty by investing in a wide variety of continuing education programs. This enhances their teaching abilities and renews their commitment to their field. This establishes the school as a leader in quality education which attracts the best and brightest students not only in the wny area, but from around the world. We have several international students and exchange programs.
$8,883,952 spent$16,622,940 earned by the program47% of program spendingFinancial aid - nichols school provides financial aid to 53% of its students. This ensures diversity within the student body and provides the opportunity of a private school education to those who otherwise may not be able to afford it. Through the strategic planning process and the funds available through our endowment, we have been able to sustain our enrollment while maintaining our goal for the percentage of financial aid dollars available and the percentage of students receiving those dollars. This process is critical to maintaining a diverse student population into the future.
$4,756,994 spentof which $4,756,994 as grants25% of program spendingFacilities - the campus consists of six separate buildings linked by tree lined sidewalks on 30 acres of city property. This includes a performing arts center and an ice rink. By providing well maintained and varied academic, arts and athletic facilities, it demonstrates the support and commitment to the faculty, coaches and students.
$413,947 spent2% of program spendingOther program services include student services, athletics and other academic expenses as detailed on form 990 part ix.
$4,891,299 spent$742,955 earned by the program26% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $18,946,192.
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 2020 to 2021, from $76M to $102M (+34%).
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: 2017 0% · 2018 0% · 2021 5% · 2022 1% · 2023 5% · 2024 1% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
14% of NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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.
Board chair
Theodore Bk Walsh
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 21 funders to 46 funders, grant income rose $929k → $1.8M.
21 of 91 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 48% 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 NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 91 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
NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO leans on a few funders — its largest provides 26% of grant income and the top three 58%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
55% 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 NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 81% · 2018 50% · 2019 42% · 2020 34% · 2021 56% · 2022 46% · 2023 31% — 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.
How long its funders stay
63% of NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 68% 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
NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO draws 58% of its grant income from funders outside New York, across 15 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $7.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 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
NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 3,794 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,794 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO
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
83% 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 NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO: 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 NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO?
- NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO (New York) receives grants from 91 organizations whose IRS filings report $15,469,644 to it, the largest being Chispa Foundation ($3,974,936). 62 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO have?
- IRS filings report 91 organizations giving $15,469,644 in grants to NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO, 62 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO?
- Chispa Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $3,974,936 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO 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.
Play a game about who funds Nichols School of Buffalo →
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 91 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing