Wisconsin · Nonprofit
ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC
ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 45 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,386,791 to it, the largest being PLEASANT T ROWLAND FOUNDATION INC ($2,790,146). 28 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $12M
- Funders on record
- 45
- Grants received
- $8.4M
- Net assets
- $-981792
What One City Schools Inc does
Mission
Our mission is to seed a new model of public education that ensures young children are on track to succeed in a college or career preparatory program from birth through high school graduation.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Established in 2014 in madison, wisconsin, one city schools, inc. ("one city") is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) school management organization with the mission to pioneer a new model of public education ensuring college and career readiness from early childhood through secondary school. One city operates high-quality preschools and tuition-free independent public charter schools in wisconsin, dedicated to developing scholars with strong character, well-being, and the skills to positively impact the world.one city's current educational programs include:one city preschool (ocp):an accredited, award-winning, tuition-based early childhood center serving children aged 3 months to 4 years through play-based learning at two madison locations. Ocp holds a 5-star rating from the wisconsin department of children and families.one city elementary school (oces):a tuition-free public charter school in madison serving grades 4k-5. Authorized by the universities of wisconsin's oeo, oces emphasizes critical thinking, problem-solving, and strong character development through a focus on core subjects, wellness, and global perspectives.one city preparatory academy (ocpa):a tuition-free public charter school…
$11,194,527 spentof which $186,973 as grants$739,963 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $11,194,527.
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 2022 to 2023, from $5.0M to $21M (+322%).
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: 2019 29% · 2020 13% · 2021 11% · 2022 65% · 2023 44% · 2024 43% · 2025 54%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
94% of ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (21% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 8 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
Michael Kaleem Caire
CEO
Board chair
James Howard
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 15 funders, grant income rose $133k → $1.1M.
11 of 45 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 13% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $15M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest One City Schools Foundation Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC raised.
From the IRS filings of ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 45 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
ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 33% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
40% 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 ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 38% · 2018 62% · 2019 52% · 2020 41% · 2021 23% · 2022 30% · 2023 23% — 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
40% of ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
77% of ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC's grant income comes from Wisconsin funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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
ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC has grown faster than three-quarters of the 2,297 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,297 human services nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC
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 Wisconsin
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
Part of a family of 4 related entities
- One City Broadway South LLC · disregarded
- One City Broadway Inc · exempt
- One City Schools Foundation Inc · exempt
- One City Advocates · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC: 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 ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC?
- ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 45 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,386,791 to it, the largest being PLEASANT T ROWLAND FOUNDATION INC ($2,790,146). 28 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC have?
- IRS filings report 45 organizations giving $8,386,791 in grants to ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC, 28 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC?
- PLEASANT T ROWLAND FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $2,790,146 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ONE CITY SCHOOLS INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Wisconsin. 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 2017–2025), and the filings of 45 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