Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
THE SEED FOUNDATION
THE SEED FOUNDATION (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 88 organizations whose IRS filings report $17,622,390 to it, the largest being ANN B & THOMAS L FRIEDMAN FAMILY FOUND ($2,987,000). 49 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.0M
- Funders on record
- 88
- Grants received
- $18M
- Net assets
- $6.6M
What The Seed Foundation does
Mission
The Seed Foundation is a national nonprofit that partners with communities to provide innovative educational opportunities that prepare underserved students for success in college and beyond.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Seed's college transition & success (cts) program is dedicated to supporting seed school graduates in their transition to college and seed's overall commitment to preparing students for success in college beyond. To amplify the impact of seed's educational program model, cts prioritizes: (1) delivering high quality college transition advising and programming, (2) leading college knowledge capacity building across seed schools, (3) supporting the understanding and usage of college success data, and(4) expanding seed's college success expertise via our college matching technology solution. As a result of the work of the cts program, best practices and resources such as the college access & success guide, college outreach visits to all seed graduates, and the required elements of seed's college knowledge & advising pillar have been core to executing seed's mission. Most notably, seed's attention to the key indicators of college degree attainment and consistent engagement with seed graduates has resulted in the development of an evidence-based college matching tier system. Seed students who begin their college journey at "right fit" institutions based on our college matching tier…
$1,927,297 spentof which $211,861 as grants25% of program spendingThe school support team works to strengthen the seed network and its leaders by establishing sustainable systems, structures, and processes. The school support team has two core priorities:-systems work: the school support team focuses on creating robust, efficient, and scalable network initiatives and systems that provide a strong foundation for school operations, data management, and continuous improvement across the network.-people work: the school support team prioritizes building the capacity of staff and leaders within the network by providing training and resources as well as fostering a culture of collaboration and shared expertise.the school support team's leads and supports various initiatives, including but not limited to the seed school improvement plan process, annual school reviews, network assessments, communities of practice, defining, tracking, and reporting on key performance indicators (seed network success measures), facilitating professional development, and leading the annual seed summit.
$1,878,683 spent24% of program spendingThe Seed Foundation continues to manage the growth and development of the seed network of schools, which includes the seed school of washington, dc, the seed school of maryland, the seed school of miami and the seed school of los angeles county. In addition, The Seed Foundation continues to explore other opportunities.
$3,877,882 spent50% of program spendingTo support the implementation and monitoring of fidelity to the seed model at seed schools, support to school leaders, professional and system development at seed schools, in addition to other forms of programmatic support and development.
$3,325,500 earned by the program
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,683,862.
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 2024 to 2025, from $11M to $7.0M (−38%).
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 9% · 2022 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
31% of THE SEED FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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.
Chief executive
Lesley Poole
CEO and president
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 24 funders to 28 funders, grant income rose $569k → $892k.
19 of 88 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 17% 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 SEED FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 88 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 SEED FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 17% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
33% 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 SEED FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 37% · 2018 57% · 2019 63% · 2020 35% · 2021 22% · 2022 36% · 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
28% of THE SEED 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
THE SEED FOUNDATION draws 97% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 22 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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 SEED FOUNDATION is better cushioned than half 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 SEED FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $13 on record.
- REFUNDS - GENERAL $13
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 SEED 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
91% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
79%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- The Seed School of Miami Foundation LLC · disregarded
- The Seed Public Charter School of Washington DC · exempt
- The Seed School of Maryland · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE SEED 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 SEED FOUNDATION?
- THE SEED FOUNDATION (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 88 organizations whose IRS filings report $17,622,390 to it, the largest being ANN B & THOMAS L FRIEDMAN FAMILY FOUND ($2,987,000). 49 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE SEED FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 88 organizations giving $17,622,390 in grants to THE SEED FOUNDATION, 49 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE SEED FOUNDATION?
- ANN B & THOMAS L FRIEDMAN FAMILY FOUND is the largest funder on record, with $2,987,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE SEED 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 88 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