North Carolina · Nonprofit
THE INNOVATION PROJECT
THE INNOVATION PROJECT (North Carolina) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,080,645 to it, the largest being WK Kellogg Foundation ($1,182,445). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.9M
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $2.1M
- Net assets
- $805k
What The Innovation Project does
Mission
The Innovation Project is a collaborative of forward-thinking education leaders unleashing student potential and shaping the future of learning. Members include public school districts across nc that vary in size, geography and demographics and are committed to implementing pioneering innovations to improve student outcomes
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Accomplishments over the year include continuing to support member districts in the transformation of systems and operations to better serve students and increase teacher quality. Successful programs and initiatives focused on strategic staffing and new team models, teacher apprenticeships, innovative performance-based compensation for educators, high impact tutoring, and pioneering new learning environments.
$6,202,754 spent$524,802 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $6,202,754.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 2024 to 2025, from $3.6M to $968k (−73%).
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: 2021 10% · 2022 22% · 2023 86% · 2024 69% · 2025 84%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
91% of THE INNOVATION PROJECT’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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.
Board chair
Dr Aaron Woody
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income fell $500k → $180k.
From the IRS filings of THE INNOVATION PROJECT’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 INNOVATION PROJECT leans on a few funders — its largest provides 57% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2020 73% · 2021 100% · 2022 60% · 2023 56% — 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.
Where its funders are
THE INNOVATION PROJECT draws 67% of its grant income from funders outside North Carolina, across 3 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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 INNOVATION PROJECT has grown faster than three-quarters of the 9,398 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,398 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding THE INNOVATION PROJECT receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.9M on record.
- Department of Education$2.9M
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 THE INNOVATION PROJECT
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 North Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
93% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
86%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE INNOVATION PROJECT: 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 INNOVATION PROJECT?
- THE INNOVATION PROJECT (North Carolina) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,080,645 to it, the largest being WK Kellogg Foundation ($1,182,445). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE INNOVATION PROJECT have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $2,080,645 in grants to THE INNOVATION PROJECT, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE INNOVATION PROJECT?
- WK Kellogg Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $1,182,445 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE INNOVATION PROJECT find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. 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 Innovation Project →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2018–2025), and the filings of 3 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