California · Nonprofit
THE DECISION EDUCATION FOUNDATION
THE DECISION EDUCATION FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $160,317 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($74,089). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 93% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $396k
- Funders on record
- 9
- Grants received
- $160k
- Net assets
- $1.3M
What The Decision Education Foundation does
Mission
To improve the lives of young people by empowering them with effective decision skills. To accomplish this, the foundation provides training and curriculum for teachers, administrators, parents and students.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
ALL OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES: DEF CONDUCTED WORKSHOPS AND MEETINGS WITH ADMINISTRATORS AND FACULTY AT SCHOOLS TO DEMONSTRATE THE TEACHING OF DECISION SKILLS. THESE INTERACTIONS DEVELOPED NEW IDEAS AND NEW TEACHING TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHING DECISION SKILLS, with the addition of new audience types. For example, DEF DEF created the Positive Pathways program, which can be integrated into juvenile diversion scenarios. It enhances their decision-making framework with tailored activities that may be more fruitful in creating more responsible citizens than the traditional court programming.
$197,322 spentof which $600 as grants$473 earned by the program83% of program spendingHEALTHY LIFESTYLE CHOICES PROGRAM: For a fourth year, a partner school delivered DEFs college and career readiness and health-specific curriculum, throughout the first and second semesters. DEF created relevant materials that received positive feedback from the teachers. The HLC program reached about 200 9th grade students. The students received community college credit for completing the course.
$16,167 spentof which $95 as grants$25,000 earned by the program7% of program spendingSTRONGSTART PROGRAM: DECISION EDUCATION FOUNDATION "DEF" continues to implement the train the teacher model for delivering a 5-day academic camp organized around Decision Skills. About 300 students and about 8 teachers across 3 repeat high schools participated in the program. One student liked the program so much that he wanted to be the teacher in 2025. These schools have implemented the StrongStart program for multiple years.
$12,065 spentof which $5,200 as grants$14,000 earned by the program5% of program spendingSCHOOL-WIDE TRAINING: DEF provided consulting services and training to the students, teachers, and leadership on the Decision Quality model for a district partner. With everyone having shared decision-making language and a framework, its easier to employ concepts and tools when school-wide decisions are made, when teachers make decisions in their classrooms, when students are selecting classes,extracurriculars, post-graduation plans, etc.
$11,707 spent$11,500 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $237,261.
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 2020 to 2021, from $199k to $1.3M (+537%).
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: 2020 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
79% of THE DECISION EDUCATION FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 7 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
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 4 funders to 2 funders, grant income fell $8k → $6k.
5 of 9 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 93% 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: $130k from one payer (the payer's own filing calls it a related party, largest The Haugland Family Foundation Fka Rosaria P Haugland Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money THE DECISION EDUCATION FOUNDATION raised.
From the IRS filings of THE DECISION EDUCATION FOUNDATION’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 DECISION EDUCATION FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 46% of grant income and the top three 87%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
93% 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 DECISION EDUCATION FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 63% · 2018 87% · 2020 51% · 2021 88% · 2022 99% · 2023 99% — growing more concentrated.
“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
13% of THE DECISION EDUCATION FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% 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
93% of THE DECISION EDUCATION FOUNDATION'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 $11k that is directly attributable, 71% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $150k 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.
Against its field
THE DECISION EDUCATION FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 22,812 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 22,812 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like THE DECISION 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
71% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
20%
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 DECISION 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 THE DECISION EDUCATION FOUNDATION?
- THE DECISION EDUCATION FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $160,317 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($74,089). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 93% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE DECISION EDUCATION FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 9 organizations giving $160,317 in grants to THE DECISION EDUCATION FOUNDATION, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE DECISION EDUCATION FOUNDATION?
- AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $74,089 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE DECISION EDUCATION FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Decision Education →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 9 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