North Carolina · Nonprofit
NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS LEADERS FOR EDUC
NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS LEADERS FOR EDUC (North Carolina) receives grants from 42 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,466,918 to it, the largest being GATES FOUNDATION ($614,001). 33 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $936k
- Funders on record
- 42
- Grants received
- $4.5M
- Net assets
- $1.6M
What North Carolina Business Leaders for Educ does
Mission
The mission of North Carolina Business Leaders for Education (dba best nc) is to unite an engaged and informed business perspective to dramatically transform and improve north carolina's education system. Our goal is for every student to graduate with the knowledge, skills and behaviors to succeed in a competitive global economy.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Research/communications: motivated by best practices and solid research, best nc believes that curating and sharing data and information broadly with education stakeholders will lead to better conversations and ideas. Our primary communication resource is the nc education facts & figures guide and accompanying education data sets (www.ncedfacts.org). We also research, prepare, and publish briefs on relevant research, programs, and policies that can elevate education practices in north carolina. We share this information both directly with education stakeholders and widely through social media.
$529,654 spent68% of program spendingState vision/collaboration: best nc believes that north carolina is uniquely positioned to lead the nation in developing and implementing transformative education strategies. With that goal in mind, we regularly convene education stakeholders to develop specific, actionable strategies toward a shared education vision. Motivated by the excellence education vision. Motivated by our belief in the importance of systems change, best nc has convened regular conversations around elevating educators for student success, setting high standards and meaningful accountability, and more.
$254,945 spent32% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $784,599.
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 2018 to 2019, from $600k to $1.3M (+109%).
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.
96% of NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS LEADERS FOR EDUC’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. 4 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.
Chief executive
Brenda Berg
CEO & director
Board chair
J Walter Mcdowell Iii
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 21 funders, grant income rose $133k → $869k.
9 of 42 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 19% 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 NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS LEADERS FOR EDUC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 42 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
NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS LEADERS FOR EDUC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 14% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 19% · 2018 43% · 2019 50% · 2020 31% · 2021 27% · 2022 16% · 2023 32% — 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
44% of NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS LEADERS FOR EDUC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 79% 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
71% of NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS LEADERS FOR EDUC's grant income comes from North Carolina funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $851k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS LEADERS FOR EDUC holds deeper cash reserves 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 NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS LEADERS FOR EDUC
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 North Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
76%
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 NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS LEADERS FOR EDUC: 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 NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS LEADERS FOR EDUC?
- NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS LEADERS FOR EDUC (North Carolina) receives grants from 42 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,466,918 to it, the largest being GATES FOUNDATION ($614,001). 33 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS LEADERS FOR EDUC have?
- IRS filings report 42 organizations giving $4,466,918 in grants to NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS LEADERS FOR EDUC, 33 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS LEADERS FOR EDUC?
- GATES FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $614,001 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS LEADERS FOR EDUC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. 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 North Carolina Business Leaders for Educ →
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 42 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