Illinois · Nonprofit
THE ACTUARIAL FOUNDATION
THE ACTUARIAL FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 65 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,254,400 to it, the largest being NEW YORK LIFE FOUNDATION ($1,100,000). 43 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.2M
- Funders on record
- 65
- Grants received
- $8.3M
- Net assets
- $3.5M
What The Actuarial Foundation does
Mission
The Actuarial Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, is a philanthropic partner of the actuarial professionin the united states. Since 1994, the foundation has led the way to create quality math education initiatives for students, teachers, and families. Our mission is to unleash the power of math education and transform futures by leveraging the talents and resources of the actuarial community. Our vision is a future where everyone experiences confidence and opportunities available through math proficiency.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Education - the foundation encourages new generations of mathematical thinkers by creating and distributing educational materials to teachers and students in grades 4-12. These free resources include hands-on projects, lesson plans, and online activities that cover a variety of mathematical topics and financial literacy themes. Modeling the future challenge (mtf) is a critical thinking, hands-on mathematics challenge for high school students for the chance to earn one of three college scholarships totaling $55,000. Students will learn how mathematics applies to cutting-edge industries and technology, as well as highly sought-after careers as actuaries and other math-related professions. The award-winning financial literacy curriculum resource, building your future, has been provided for free to more than 60,000 high school teachers and 500,000 students nationwide. The foundation is proud to help to close the opportunity gap through a volunteer-driven s.a.t. And math tutoring program that pairs low-income urban high school students with professional actuaries and college students majoring in actuarial science, mathematics, or education.
$1,642,789 spentof which $101,367 as grants55% of program spendingThe Actuarial Foundation supports and inspires the next generation of actuarial professionals through the stem stars actuarial scholars program. Stem stars goes beyond scholarships by creating a guided pathway into the actuarial profession offering mentorship, networking opportunities, and exposure to real-world applications of actuarial work. Through this holistic support system, stem stars equips scholars with the skills, connections, and confidence needed to successfully enter and thrive in the actuarial field.
$1,152,044 spentof which $1,094,357 as grants38% of program spendingAwards & prizes - The Actuarial Foundation confers awards and prizes through several programs that recognize excellence in education, student achievement, and public engagement. The helen galt educator award honors teachers who support and inspire student participation in the modeling the future challenge, encouraging broader engagement in the competition. Through the hardest math problem student contest, students receive prizes including laptops and 529 college savings contributions. These prizes help build confidence in mathematics, incentivize students to participate, and inspire interest in stem and actuarial careers. The climate resilience award, part of the modeling the future challenge, provides stipends to student winners to support a 10-week, part-time summer internship enabling them to translate their mathematical models into practical, community-based solutions. The wynn kent public communication award recognizes actuaries who enhance public awareness of the profession and its role in promoting financial security across life, health, casualty, pension, and related fields.
$194,776 spentof which $38,155 as grants7% of program spendingGeneral program expenses.
$5,032 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,994,641.
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 2018 to 2019, from $6.6M to $9.1M (+39%).
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.
95% of THE ACTUARIAL FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 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
Valerie Thompson
Executive director
Board chair
Sharon Robinson
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 38 funders, grant income rose $216k → $1.7M.
17 of 65 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 47% 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: $769k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Casualty Actuarial Society). These are real filings, and they are not money THE ACTUARIAL FOUNDATION raised.
From the IRS filings of THE ACTUARIAL FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 65 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
THE ACTUARIAL FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 13% of grant income, and it takes 7 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 7 funders to its left
67% 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 ACTUARIAL FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 74% · 2018 54% · 2019 36% · 2020 22% · 2021 20% · 2022 11% · 2023 15% — 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
66% of THE ACTUARIAL FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 66% 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
THE ACTUARIAL FOUNDATION draws 88% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 23 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.9M 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
THE ACTUARIAL FOUNDATION holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 9,615 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,615 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like THE ACTUARIAL 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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
66% 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 28 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE ACTUARIAL 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 THE ACTUARIAL FOUNDATION?
- THE ACTUARIAL FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 65 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,254,400 to it, the largest being NEW YORK LIFE FOUNDATION ($1,100,000). 43 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE ACTUARIAL FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 65 organizations giving $8,254,400 in grants to THE ACTUARIAL FOUNDATION, 43 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE ACTUARIAL FOUNDATION?
- NEW YORK LIFE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,100,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE ACTUARIAL FOUNDATION 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.
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 65 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