Massachusetts · Nonprofit
THE MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM INC
THE MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,040,554 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($444,375). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 78% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $332k
- Funders on record
- 33
- Grants received
- $1.0M
- Net assets
- $1.1M
What The Max Warburg Courage Curriculum Inc does
Mission
The mission of maxcourage is to empower students to discover the value of courage and develop english language arts (ela) proficiency. The program, through its mission, helps students recognize their capacity to address the troubling complexities of their world by exploring the concept of courage in literature, in their own lives, and in the broader community. At the same time, this sel approach strengthens their literacy skills. Maxcourage's overarching vision is to provide a model ela curriculum which empowers students to learn about and continue to exhibit courage in their lives, and which inspires others to make bolder and more courageous choices.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
For 34 years, the max warburg courage curriculum (maxcourage) has supported students and teachers in boston and beyond with our free english language arts (ela) and social-emotional learning (sel) curriculum. Maxcourage was initially created to serve boston public schools. In recent years, maxcourage has been continued in boston, while expanding to massachusetts gateway cities and new england states. Approximately 6,000 children worldwide participate in the program each year.since 2021, maxcourage has expanded national participation by 88% to meet the demand for teachers and students sel and ela academic needs post pandemic. Additionally, a new out-of-school time program, the maxcourage writer's workshop series, offered access to curriculum and an essay contest for those in after-school programs and summer camps. The annual publication of student essays, the courage of children: boston and beyond, reflected this growth with a book that was 33% larger than in prior years.
$281,660 spentof which $20,000 as grants100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $281,660.
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 $905k to $1.1M (+19%).
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 11% · 2023 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
77% of THE MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM INC’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. 3 of the last 9 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
Stephanie Warburg
Founder and board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2020 and FY2021 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 12 funders, grant income rose $98k → $133k.
8 of 33 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 78% 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 MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 33 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 MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 43% of grant income and the top three 71%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
78% 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 MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 52% · 2018 55% · 2019 56% · 2020 36% · 2021 48% · 2022 40% · 2023 39% — 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 THE MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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
78% of THE MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM INC'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 $232k that is directly attributable, 67% of it comes from Massachusetts funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $809k 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 MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM INC receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $1.0M to it.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 16,849 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like THE MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM 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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
61% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
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 MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM 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.
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 MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM INC?
- THE MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,040,554 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($444,375). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 78% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM INC have?
- IRS filings report 33 organizations giving $1,040,554 in grants to THE MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM INC, 19 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $444,375 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE MAX WARBURG COURAGE CURRICULUM INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 Max Warburg Courage Curriculum →
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 33 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