North Carolina · Nonprofit
Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation
Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation (North Carolina) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $972,243 to it, the largest being DOGWOOD HEALTH TRUST ($612,316). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $404k
- Funders on record
- 10
- Grants received
- $972k
- Net assets
- $922k
What Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation does
Mission
To develop and administer programs to promote, support, and enhance the rutherford county board of education, the rutherford county schools and the students attending those schools.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Backpack program fund supplies and materials needed for food backpacks to travel home with children on the weekend fund a backpack coordinator position to work within the schools to prepare and distribute the backpacks fund delivery of backpack materials to schools
$105,674 spent$55,619 earned by the program35% of program spendingHelping hands for the homeless students provide basic needs for students in homeless circumstances provide families funds for lost homes rent temporary housing for families and students in need
$44,519 spent$106,000 earned by the program15% of program spendingCommunity action program camp innovate: a dynamic sumemr experience designed to spark creativity and curiosity through hands on stem and design challenges project steam: initiative to engage students in real-world science explorations that blend creativity engineering and technology ai in action: providing technology across our district and developing applied ai practices and expanding our program offerings that prepare them for the future of innovation
$29,115 spent$63,180 earned by the program10% of program spendingAll other expenses of the foundation including grants, non-cash awards and other program service expenses.
$123,172 spent$134,653 earned by the program41% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $302,480.
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 2019 to 2020, from $278k to $905k (+225%).
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.
100% of Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations 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 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
Ritchie Garland
Executive Director
Board chair
Dr Janet Mason
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2020 and FY2021 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 5 funders, grant income rose $800 → $392k.
5 of 10 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 31% 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 Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 9 of 10 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
Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 63% of grant income and the top three 92%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
37% 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 Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 60% · 2021 99% · 2022 88% · 2023 89% — 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
60% of Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% 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
100% of Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation'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. $298k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation 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 Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation
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
89% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
56%
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 Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation: 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 Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation?
- Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation (North Carolina) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $972,243 to it, the largest being DOGWOOD HEALTH TRUST ($612,316). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation have?
- IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $972,243 in grants to Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation?
- DOGWOOD HEALTH TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $612,316 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Rutherford County Schools Education Foundation 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.
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 10 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