Illinois · Nonprofit
THE ACADEMY GROUP
THE ACADEMY GROUP (Illinois) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $537,750 to it, the largest being NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION ($360,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $11M
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $538k
- Net assets
- $16k
What The Academy Group does
Mission
Fueled by the belief that talent is ubiquitous, The Academy Group unlocks opportunity for young people from the nation's most resilient communities to realize their full potential as economic, educational, and social change agents.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The Academy Group (academy) works with families from across regions: boston, chicago, detroit, and los angeles. Ninety-five percent of the students the organization serves are black and brown and the organization will continue to expand our reach to support young people from resilient communities. In addition, the organization serves young adults who attend a broad range of colleges and universities.over a fourteen-year journey, the academy guides students through intense interdisciplinary exploration of business, wealth creation, and leadership. Programming at the academy is rigorous, personalized, and cumulative. The organization reinforces core skills that accelerate academic progress, putting students on track to reach ambitious educational and career, and wealth-building milestones.
$7,777,455 spentof which $1,377,818 as grants82% of program spendingThe amplify chicago (amplify) program is a wealth-building pathway integrating career, leadership, and entrepreneurship for 21 to 30- year-old young men and women from the most resilient communities that have been disproportionately impacted by violence, criminalization, economic disruption, and educational disinvestment.amplify's holistic approach to closing the opportunity gap is grounded in transformative relationships and designed to accelerate business, academic, social, and emotional growth. Through the intensive internship and apprenticeship model, participants earn industry credentials, build investment portfolios, address trauma, set personal and professional goals, and transition into career and entrepreneurial pathways.just like the academy, amplify proves that talent is ubiquitos.
$1,689,274 spentof which $78,516 as grants18% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $9,466,729.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $286k to $2.9M (+906%).
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 THE ACADEMY GROUP’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 6 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2021 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $10k → $20k.
2 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 17% 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 THE ACADEMY GROUP’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
THE ACADEMY GROUP leans on a few funders — its largest provides 67% of grant income and the top three 93%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
90% 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 THE ACADEMY GROUP.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2021 100% · 2022 82% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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.
Where its funders are
THE ACADEMY GROUP draws 85% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 3 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $93k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
THE ACADEMY GROUP has grown faster than three-quarters of the 3,758 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,758 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like THE ACADEMY GROUP
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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
74% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
10%
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 THE ACADEMY GROUP: 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 THE ACADEMY GROUP?
- THE ACADEMY GROUP (Illinois) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $537,750 to it, the largest being NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION ($360,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE ACADEMY GROUP have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $537,750 in grants to THE ACADEMY GROUP, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE ACADEMY GROUP?
- NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $360,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE ACADEMY GROUP find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. 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 Academy Group →
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 6 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