Indiana · Nonprofit
SAGAMORE INC
SAGAMORE INC (Indiana) receives grants from 82 organizations whose IRS filings report $38,892,532 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($17,485,203). 38 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 53% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $24M
- Funders on record
- 82
- Grants received
- $39M
- Net assets
- $18M
What Sagamore Inc does
Mission
An indianapolis-based nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization or "think tank." it is our mission to research and analyze difficult issues and to connect the best ideas with leaders who can transform them into smarter policy and improved practice.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Education the global teach exchange (formerly the j-1 visa program) issues visas and monitors highly qualified international teachers who come to the u.s. To teach and share their culture and perspectives. The exchange visitor program promotes mutual understanding between people of different nations by cultural and educational exchange, allowing foreign teachers to teach in accredited u.s. K12 schools and return home to share their experience. Sagamore also operates the scholarships for education choice program, an indiana scholarship-granting organization (sgo). It awards scholarships so eligible families may choose the school that best fits their child. The program allows individual and business donors to receive a state tax credit equal to 50 % of their gift. Over its lifetime, the program has awarded tens of millions of dollars in scholarships to indiana students.
$11,177,643 spentof which $10,722,621 as grants$584,025 earned by the program49% of program spendingCommunity development the organization's community development and citizenship efforts engage citizens, scholars, and public leaders to build stronger communities. Many of the initiatives emphasize capacity-building for community-based organizations and fostering resilient civil society.
$4,784,847 spentof which $1,683,665 as grants21% of program spendingPolicy reform the organization houses multiple policy reform programs that focus on state innovations in promoting healthy families, economic sustainability, budget responsibility, and education choice.
$1,952,881 spentof which $66,800 as grants9% of program spendingPurposeful design purposeful design helps rebuild lives of individuals who have faced addiction, homelessness, incarceration, or other obstacles, by equipping them with practical work skills in a supportive environment.
$1,682,604 spent7% of program spendingCriminal justice the organization's criminal justice portfolio advances new approaches to support youth and individuals impacted by crime, strengthen pathways to restoration, and improve outcomes in the justice system.
$1,449,673 spent6% of program spendingInternational development the organization's international development initiatives extend the organization's reach globally, delivering wise counsel in nations such as india, liberia, nigeria, ghana, and rwanda.
$1,139,626 spentof which $660,365 as grants5% of program spendingBusiness support the organization's business support portfolio creates economic pathways for disadvantaged individuals to launch, sustain, and grow small businesses. This includes education, capacity building, and ecosystem development.
$551,908 spentof which $119,500 as grants2% of program spending
The 7 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $22,739,182.
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 2023 to 2024, from $16M to $21M (+32%).
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 7% · 2018 7% · 2019 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
91% of SAGAMORE INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
Dr Allison Barber
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 22 funders, grant income rose $3.2M → $3.9M.
26 of 82 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 53% 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 SAGAMORE INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 82 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
SAGAMORE INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 45% of grant income and the top three 76%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
56% 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 SAGAMORE INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 86% · 2018 84% · 2019 82% · 2020 69% · 2021 48% · 2022 41% · 2023 42% — 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
39% of SAGAMORE INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 46% 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
53% of SAGAMORE INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $18M that is directly attributable, 62% of it comes from Indiana funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $21M arriving through sponsors registered in 15 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
SAGAMORE INC is better cushioned than half of the 144 public benefit nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 144 public benefit nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding SAGAMORE INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $30k on record.
- National Endowment for the Humanities$30k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like SAGAMORE 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 Indiana
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
92% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
92%
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 6 related entities
- Purposeful Design LLC · disregarded
- Marion Land Trust LLC · disregarded
- Electric Works Trust Company LLC · disregarded
- New Haven Land Trust LLC · disregarded
- North River Trust Company LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SAGAMORE 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 SAGAMORE INC?
- SAGAMORE INC (Indiana) receives grants from 82 organizations whose IRS filings report $38,892,532 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($17,485,203). 38 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 53% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SAGAMORE INC have?
- IRS filings report 82 organizations giving $38,892,532 in grants to SAGAMORE INC, 38 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SAGAMORE INC?
- NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC is the largest funder on record, with $17,485,203 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SAGAMORE INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Indiana. 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 82 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