Rhode Island · Nonprofit
THE WHEELER SCHOOL
THE WHEELER SCHOOL (Rhode Island) receives grants from 71 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,607,976 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($5,647,111). 49 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 64% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $51M
- Funders on record
- 71
- Grants received
- $12M
- Net assets
- $115M
What The Wheeler School does
Mission
Wheeler is an independent, college preparatory day school serving students nursery through grade 12 whose mission is derived from the ideal of its founder, mary c wheeler, "to learn our powers and be answerable for their use."
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Providing educational services to students attending nursery through 12th grade. The school enrolled 823 students for the year of which 96 students graduated from the class of 2025 and 99% of those graduating pursued a college education. Administration, faculty and staff participated in school supported professional development programs. A strong volunteer group of parents and alumni helped the school in its fundraising and admissions activities.
$33,920,086 spentof which $5,622,200 as grants$38,551,183 earned by the program97% of program spendingWheeler summer camp and programs provide both wheeler students and children from the local communities, educational, enrichment, recreational and athletic based activities and programming. Summer camp and programs introduce children to The Wheeler School and camp experiences. In 2025, over 900 children participated in the programs. Wheeler summer camp and programs provide non-tuition revenue to support annual operations.
$889,026 spent$1,359,409 earned by the program3% of program spendingAfter school programs service wheeler students in nursery through grade 5. Approximately 70 students were enrolled per day in age appropriate activities. Additionally late day options are available for our nursery and pre-k students.
$240,716 spent$408,284 earned by the program1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $35,049,828.
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 2018 to 2019, from $94M to $116M (+23%).
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%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
6% of THE WHEELER SCHOOL’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
John Clarke
Alumni board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 16 funders to 35 funders, grant income rose $410k → $2.0M.
18 of 71 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 64% 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 WHEELER SCHOOL’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 71 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 WHEELER SCHOOL leans on a few funders — its largest provides 49% of grant income and the top three 69%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
65% 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 WHEELER SCHOOL.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 66% · 2018 93% · 2019 32% · 2020 39% · 2021 29% · 2022 66% · 2023 26% — 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
59% of THE WHEELER SCHOOL's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% 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
64% of THE WHEELER SCHOOL'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 $4.2M that is directly attributable, 89% of it comes from funders outside Rhode Island, across 14 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $7.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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 WHEELER SCHOOL runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 3,794 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,794 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like THE WHEELER SCHOOL
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 Rhode Island
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
76% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
60%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE WHEELER SCHOOL: 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 WHEELER SCHOOL?
- THE WHEELER SCHOOL (Rhode Island) receives grants from 71 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,607,976 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($5,647,111). 49 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 64% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE WHEELER SCHOOL have?
- IRS filings report 71 organizations giving $11,607,976 in grants to THE WHEELER SCHOOL, 49 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE WHEELER SCHOOL?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $5,647,111 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE WHEELER SCHOOL find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Rhode Island. 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 Wheeler 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 71 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