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Wisconsin · Nonprofit

THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL INC

THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 39 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,724,116 to it, the largest being JOHNSON FAMILY FOUNDATION ($9,167,500). 27 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$24M
Funders on record
39
Grants received
$17M
Net assets
$86M
27/39 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 14%
01What it does

What The Prairie School Inc does

Mission

K-12 education in a private school setting

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Instructional and related activities improving and developing children. 633 students were enrolled in the school during the current reporting period.

    $12,762,979 spentof which $3,306,661 as grants$13,895,198 earned by the program
    80% of program spending
  2. Building operation and maintenance of facilities to provide a place forstudents enrolled to attend educational activities on a regular basis.

    $3,112,354 spent
    20% of program spending

The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $15,875,333.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($15M) Expenses 100 ($15M) Net assets 100 ($60M)2018 Revenue 113 ($17M) Expenses 105 ($16M) Net assets 100 ($60M)2019 Revenue 149 ($22M) Expenses 108 ($16M) Net assets 109 ($65M)2020 Revenue 126 ($19M) Expenses 107 ($16M) Net assets 112 ($67M)2021 Revenue 154 ($23M) Expenses 103 ($16M) Net assets 134 ($81M)2022 Revenue 139 ($21M) Expenses 108 ($16M) Net assets 122 ($73M)2023 Revenue 125 ($19M) Expenses 117 ($18M) Net assets 128 ($77M)2024 Revenue 133 ($20M) Expenses 124 ($19M) Net assets 137 ($83M)2025 Revenue 160 ($24M) Expenses 129 ($20M) Net assets 143 ($86M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (160)Expenses (129)Net assets (143)Peer revenue range

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 $72M to $83M (+16%).

$63M
$63M
$68M
$72M
$83M
$76M
$79M
$85M
$89M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

13% of THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 4,254 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

−$298k
’17
$934k
’18
$5.8M
’19
$2.5M
’20
$7.4M
’21
$4.3M
’22
$745k
’23
$1.1M
’24
$4.3M
’25
1.9
months of
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.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed192019192020191919
Joined·+2+1+2+2+1+0+2+2
No longer listed·12211122
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 20 funders, grant income rose $286k → $2.6M.

12 of 39 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 4% 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 PRAIRIE SCHOOL INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 39 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 PRAIRIE SCHOOL INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 55% of grant income and the top three 75%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

55%
largest funder
75%
top three
~3
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 32% · 2018 45% · 2019 40% · 2020 49% · 2021 70% · 2022 48% · 2023 46% — 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

46% of THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

77% of THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL INC's grant income comes from Wisconsin funders.

IL
WI
NY
PA
CT
MO
AZ
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Wisconsin out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $679k arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 3,794 education nonprofits its size.

Operating margin18% · top quartile
Months of reserve1.9mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)6% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,794 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025

Organizations like THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL 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 Wisconsin

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

81% of spending goes to programs.

Program 81%Management 18%Fundraising 1%

Governance

17
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention–Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

WI

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL 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.

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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 PRAIRIE SCHOOL INC?
THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 39 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,724,116 to it, the largest being JOHNSON FAMILY FOUNDATION ($9,167,500). 27 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL INC have?
IRS filings report 39 organizations giving $16,724,116 in grants to THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL INC, 27 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL INC?
JOHNSON FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $9,167,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Wisconsin. 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 Prairie School →

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 39 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