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Florida · Nonprofit

SCHOOLYARD FILMS INC

SCHOOLYARD FILMS INC (Florida) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,169,727 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($471,500). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$410k
Funders on record
18
Grants received
$1.2M
Net assets
$91k
8/18 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 98%
01What it does

What Schoolyard Films Inc does

Mission

The mission of schoolyard films is to educate k-12 students about the natural world and the challenges it facesby engaging learners in ultra-high definition environmental films with accompanying supplemental curriculum materials.Schoolyard Films Inc offers 100% of our work free of charge to students and teachers throughout the world

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Production of a series of 3 "plastics" films. Each of these films highlights an area of concern regarding the use and disposal of plastics in our environment. There were 3 films produced and corresponding study guides for use by teachers and students. These films are placed in exhibit locations in museums, aquariums, etc and are available for free at apple podcasts. 2024 funds were utilized for final edits, study guide development for k-12 and online distribution efforts.

    $75,445 spent
    19% of program spending
  2. Schoolyard films launched a self-promoting marketing plan. This includes creation of media materials to present to potential donors, small gatherings of prospective donors initiated by increased exposure through board & community contacts, person-to-person meetings with foundation representatives, individual donors and local non-profits in schoolyards related field of education, environmental awareness and conservation. Additional exposure at educational conferences and local philanthropic events will produce more leads for increasing schoolyards fundraising capabilities.

    $130,997 spent
    33% of program spending
  3. Schoolyard films is continuing in its efforts to grow a mentorship program for future environmental and conservation filmmakers. The research for candidates, topics and exploring ways to make this a global endeavor are included in this growth effort. 2024 funds were used for mentorship awards for 3 films. This includes their creation/production and subsequent inclusion in the schoolyard on-going film library. Funds were also used for the legal setup of the mentorship program to include contracts with the filmmakers.

    $190,055 spent
    48% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $396,497.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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.

100 = 20202020 Revenue 100 ($166k) Expenses 100 ($49k) Net assets 100 ($121k)2021 Revenue 76 ($126k) Expenses 376 ($182k) Net assets 53 ($64k)2022 Revenue 102 ($170k) Expenses 285 ($138k) Net assets 79 ($95k)2023 Revenue 211 ($350k) Expenses 608 ($295k) Net assets 125 ($151k)2024 Revenue 254 ($421k) Expenses 916 ($444k) Net assets 105 ($127k)2025 Revenue 247 ($410k) Expenses 925 ($449k) Net assets 75 ($91k)
202020212022202320242025
Revenue (247)Expenses (925)Net assets (75)Peer revenue range

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 $121k to $64k (−47%).

$121k
$64k
$95k
$151k
$127k
$91k
202020212022202320242025
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

100% of SCHOOLYARD FILMS INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (64% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 19,618 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 6 reported years ran a deficit.

$117k
’20
−$57k
’21
$31k
’22
$55k
’23
−$23k
’24
−$39k
’25
2.2
months of
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

Tom Fitz

Executive director

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

202320242025
Listed677
Joined·+2+0
No longer listed·10
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 8 funders, grant income rose $15k → $128k.

5 of 18 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 45% 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 SCHOOLYARD FILMS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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

SCHOOLYARD FILMS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 40% of grant income and the top three 68%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

45% 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 SCHOOLYARD FILMS INC.

40%
largest funder
68%
top three
~5
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 71% · 2020 56% · 2021 44% · 2022 29% · 2023 24% — 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

33% of SCHOOLYARD FILMS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 44% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y

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

SCHOOLYARD FILMS INC draws 62% of its grant income from funders outside Florida, across 7 states in all.

IL
MI
NY
MA
PA
CA
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Florida out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $530k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

SCHOOLYARD FILMS INC has grown faster than three-quarters of the 12,262 arts & culture nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−10% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve2.2mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)20% · top quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 12,262 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025

Organizations like SCHOOLYARD FILMS 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 Florida

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

88% of spending goes to programs.

Program 88%Management 3%Fundraising 8%

Governance

7
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

100%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

FL

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SCHOOLYARD FILMS 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.

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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 SCHOOLYARD FILMS INC?
SCHOOLYARD FILMS INC (Florida) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,169,727 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($471,500). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does SCHOOLYARD FILMS INC have?
IRS filings report 18 organizations giving $1,169,727 in grants to SCHOOLYARD FILMS INC, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of SCHOOLYARD FILMS INC?
VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM is the largest funder on record, with $471,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like SCHOOLYARD FILMS INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Florida. 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 Schoolyard Films →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 18 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