Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation
The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 53 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,609,911 to it, the largest being THE RACHAEL RAY FOUNDATION ($2,340,000). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $19M
- Funders on record
- 53
- Grants received
- $12M
- Net assets
- $40M
What The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation does
Mission
As the philanthropic foundation of the National Restaurant Association, we enhance the industry's service to the public through education, community engagement, and promotion of career opportunities.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
ProStart is a nationwide program for high school students that focuses on developing the next generation of restaurant and foodservice leaders. The program is industry-driven, combining culinary arts and restaurant management training to build practical skills. ProStart provides students a platform to discover new interests while highlighting successful career opportunities across the industry. ProStart reaches approximately 214,000 students in 2,100 schools across all 50 states, Washington, DC, and the Territories of Guam and Puerto Rico. Additionally, the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation awards more than $1 million in scholarships and grants each year. Since 1987, the Foundation has awarded more than $27 million.
$11,878,386 spentof which $3,034,247 as grants$1,291,184 earned by the program70% of program spendingNRAEF and the American Hotel & Lodging Association, are entered into a contract with the Department of Labor (DOL) to create and implement a registered apprenticeship initiative for the restaurant and hospitality industries. The program will provide a definitive pathway to equip individuals with the knowledge, skills and confidence to advance to management-level positions. NRAEF has received other grants with DOL for ex-offenders to find employment in the restaurant and hospitality industries.
$4,527,127 spentof which $1,780,625 as grants$4,093,071 earned by the program27% of program spendingThe NRAEF supports active, guard and reserve military members, military spouses, dependent children and veterans with their transition out of the military after separating or retiring from duty. This support includes the Foundation's work to: *Provide pathways to help service members and their families transition into civilian life * Train service members to hone their skills * Honor service member by recognizing the best in foodservice operations through the Travelers program.
$462,036 spent3% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $16,867,549.
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 2019 to 2020, from $33M to $39M (+18%).
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: 2017 0% · 2018 0% · 2019 0% · 2021 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
32% of The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (96% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
Michelle L Korsmo
President & CEO
Board chair
Shaun Beard
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 9 funders, grant income rose $497k → $1.4M.
14 of 53 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 8% 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: $611k from 7 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest National Restaurant Association). These are real filings, and they are not money The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation raised.
From the IRS filings of The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 53 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 National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
36% 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 National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 43% · 2018 49% · 2019 33% · 2020 33% · 2021 27% · 2022 29% · 2023 22% — 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
11% of The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 42% 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 National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 19 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $961k arriving through sponsors registered in 13 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 National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation is better cushioned than half of the 268 food & nutrition nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 268 food & nutrition nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $43.5M on record — $43.3M federal, $250k state.
- Department of Labor$42.2M
- Department of Justice$958k
- Department of Defense$144k
- Grant$250k
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 National Restaurant Association Educational 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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
50%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 51 states
Part of a family of 6 related entities
- National Restaurant Association · exempt
- Multicultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance · exempt
- Restaurant Law Center · exempt
- NRA Political Action Committee · exempt
- National Restaurant Association Services LLC · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for The National Restaurant Association Educational 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 National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation?
- The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 53 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,609,911 to it, the largest being THE RACHAEL RAY FOUNDATION ($2,340,000). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation have?
- IRS filings report 53 organizations giving $11,609,911 in grants to The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, 22 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation?
- THE RACHAEL RAY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,340,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 53 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