North Carolina · Nonprofit
THE WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE
THE WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE (North Carolina) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $272,531 to it, the largest being MERANCAS FOUNDATION INC ($110,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2021
- $732k
- Funders on record
- 9
- Grants received
- $273k
- Net assets
- $0
What The Walking Classroom Institute does
Mission
The walking classroom is a national award-winning nonprofit program and educational tool that works to improve the physical, mental and academic health of elementary and middle school children. By walking, listening, and learning regularly throughout the school year, students establish healthy lifestyle habits while building health literacy and core content knowledge. The primary goal of our program is to break the cycle of inactivity and obesity while providing an innovative method of academic engagement at the same time. The method is simple: students walk as a class (usually outside) while listening to the same, expert-researched, custom-written, kid-friendly educational podcast. Students are excited to get out of the classroom, and they soon begin to enjoy regular exercise and realize that the walking classroom and its effects empower them.
As stated on its FY2021 Form 990.
Program
On its FY2021 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
At the board's direction we initiated a search for another organization to become a part of in order to ensure the program's ongoing sustainability. The walking classroom had a very slim staff going into 2021 (4 part time employees and one fulltime employee), making the organization quite vulnerable to staff departures. We did, in fact, find a potential partner in the alliance for a healthier generation ("afhg"), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. We entered into a formal program transfer agreement with afhg and closed the actual transfer of all assets and employees on december 31, 2021. The walking classroom program is still in existence and will continue to be distributed by the alliance for a healthier generation. The Walking Classroom Institute was dissolved as of december 31, 2021.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
The Walking Classroom Institute offers two primary programs: (1) the walking classroom and (2) the walking classroom stem program. Programs are aligned with the curriculum standards and provide a school year's worth of educational podcasts pre-loaded on mp3-type players called "walkkits." walkkits are provided for each student, and each podcast is supported by an extensive teacher's guide (including lesson plans, vocabulary words, and comprehension quizzes) or discussion guide to help the teacher/ facilitator synthesize learning. During 2020, we introduced a new way for individuals to access our podcast content, a mobile app available through the app store or goggle play, and via a web-based app suitable for bulk purchases. Our educational materials may be purchased directly by schools or other interested organizations (afterschool programs, homeschoolers, etc.) and individuals.teachers that would like to implement our program but their school cannot afford to purchase program materials, can go to www.thewalkingclassroom.org and apply to be on a waiting list to get a donated set of walkkits and a teacher's guide. The Walking Classroom Institute seeks donations and grants in order…
$2,555,973 spentof which $2,187,942 as grants$566,919 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2021 Form 990. Program spending in total: $2,555,973.
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.
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 $2.1M to $0 (−100%).
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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 5 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
Rachel Mandell
Board chair
As listed on its FY2021 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2021: the base broadened from 3 funders to 6 funders, grant income fell $96k → $85k.
4 of 9 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 46% 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 WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE’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 WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 40% of grant income and the top three 76%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
52% 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 WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 62% · 2019 45% · 2020 29% · 2021 59% — 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
67% of THE WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 67% 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 FY2021, 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
87% of THE WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE's grant income comes from North Carolina funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $126k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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.
Organizations like THE WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE
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
94% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
73%
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 1 related entity
- The Walking Classroom LLC · partnership
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE: 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 WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE?
- THE WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE (North Carolina) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $272,531 to it, the largest being MERANCAS FOUNDATION INC ($110,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 9 organizations giving $272,531 in grants to THE WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE?
- MERANCAS FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $110,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE 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.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2021 (financials across 2017–2021), and the filings of 9 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