California · Nonprofit
VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL
VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL (California) receives grants from 65 organizations whose IRS filings report $17,192,283 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($10,304,150). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 76% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $98M
- Funders on record
- 65
- Grants received
- $17M
- Net assets
- $52M
What Vanguard University of So Cal does
Mission
The mission of vanguard university is to pursue knowledge, cultivate character, deepen faith, and equip each student for a spirit-empowered life of christ-centered leadership and service.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Traditional undergraduate: bachelors degrees in 37 majors and one certificate program in anti-human trafficking. Vanguard students are immersed in a learning environment that is designed for student success both in and out of the classroom. Vanguard's commitment to student learning and development promotes academic transformation by cultivating students to think critically, communicate clearly, interact intelligently and engage in civic responsibilities. Vanguard's relational culture reflects the university's core values to encourage speaking to one another with uncompromised truth in love; live in community with integrity and unyielding moral character; and to care for the well-being of one another. These core values are evidenced in local and global projects.
$68,768,895 spentof which $36,309,470 as grants$80,887,294 earned by the program91% of program spendingThe professional studies program is a non-traditional program by which students can earn an accelerated bachelor's degree in business, psychology, theology, nursing (registered nurse to bachelor of science in nursing), and early childhood. There are also three certificate programs available: early childhood, anti-human trafficking, and ministry leadership that are available to non-degree seeking students. The vision for our non-traditional student program is to be orange county's top choice for an accelerated education with a christian foundation, a place where students are empowered to discern their calling, discover their giftedness, and develop their competencies.
$1,352,739 spentof which $29,552 as grants$1,469,950 earned by the program2% of program spendingThe graduate program in education offers a preliminary credential program and a master of arts program. Eligible students may apply their credential coursework toward a subsequent master of arts in education. The preliminary teaching credential program is composed of the multiple subject credential and the single subject credential. Both credential options are accredited by the california commission on teacher credentialing. The master of arts in education is offered with four concentrations: (1) curriculum and instruction (with preliminary credential), (2) christian education leadership (with preliminary credential), (3) christian education leadership (without preliminary credential), and (4) teacher leadership.
$1,008,581 spentof which $6,014 as grants$1,095,972 earned by the program1% of program spendingOther miscellaneous undergraduate and graduate programs.
$4,321,195 spentof which $308,515 as grants$4,695,615 earned by the program6% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $75,451,410.
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 $56M to $87M (+54%).
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 1% · 2018 1% · 2019 2% · 2020 4% · 2021 11% · 2022 7% · 2023 1% · 2024 1% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
9% of VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (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
Green Doug
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 13 funders to 21 funders, grant income rose $654k → $5.9M.
16 of 65 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 76% 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: $3.1M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Vanguard University Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL raised.
From the IRS filings of VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 65 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
VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL leans on a few funders — its largest provides 60% of grant income and the top three 79%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
80% 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 VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 46% · 2018 50% · 2019 25% · 2020 19% · 2021 26% · 2022 83% · 2023 85% — 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
26% of VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 48% 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
76% of VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL'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 $4.1M that is directly attributable, 88% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $13M 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
VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL's revenue grew 43% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,794 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- Vu Holdings LLC · disregarded
- Vanguard University Foundation · exempt
- Southern California District Council of the Assemblies of God · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL: 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 VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL?
- VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL (California) receives grants from 65 organizations whose IRS filings report $17,192,283 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($10,304,150). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 76% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL have?
- IRS filings report 65 organizations giving $17,192,283 in grants to VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL, 31 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $10,304,150 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Vanguard University of So Cal →
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 65 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