Grants for charter schools

1,116 charter schools received at least $80.6 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 807 grants made from 478 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,500. Of these 478 foundations, 83% made just a single grant to charter schools, and 6% made grants to four or more charter schools. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$80,554,254
Total grant dollars given to charter schools
807
Number of grants made annually to charter schools
478
Number of grantmakers funding charter schools
$1,500
Median grant size to charter schools

Foundations that support charter schools

Out of all grants made to charter schools, 68% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 98% of the dollar-value of grants to charter schools. Foundations funding charter schools also made grants to high schools, educational service providers, youth development programs, multiservice human service organizations, and student service providers.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
328
Medium
 
71
Large
 
79
Small foundations have <$10M in assets. Medium foundations have $10M to $50M in assets. Large foundations have >$50M in assets.

Foundation type

Foundation typeNumber of grantmakers
Community
 
14
Private
 
366
Corporate
 
48
Other
 
50

Grants made

Grants made to charter schoolsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
400
2-3
 
46
4-10
 
22
11+
 
10

Top 10 foundations supporting charter schools

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to charter schoolsNumber of grants made to charter schoolsMedian grant size
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)TNMetro0.1%29$482
Dollar General Literacy FoundationTNNational0.5%25$2,500
The Rhode Island FoundationRIMetro0.1%22$1,500
New York Life FoundationNYNational0.0%21$500
Greathearts ArizonaAZMetro32.2%18$2,741,471
Baird FoundationWINational0.4%18$500
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.0%18$225
Us Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and TechnologyNHNational0.4%13$1,838
Land O'Lakes FoundationMNNational0.1%13$200
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.1%11$500

Charter schools grantees

Charter schools with more than $5 million in total revenues received 82% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 65% of all charter schools.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
788
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
19

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$1,000
$100k-$500k
 
$2,500
$500k-$1M
 
$2,600
$1M-$5M
 
$1,600
>$5M
 
$1,403

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
California
 
128
Illinois
 
55
New York
 
49
Tennessee
 
48
Other
 
527

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
Chicago
 
55
Los Angeles
 
51
New York City
 
50
Nashville
 
42
Other
 
574

Top 25 grants made to charter schools

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Imagine Schools$13,827,764CostImagine Schools
Making Waves Academy$7,050,000General SupportScully Memorial Foundation
Archway Classical Academy Scottsdale$5,093,846FMVGreathearts Arizona
Anthem Preparatory Academy$4,494,966FMVGreathearts Arizona
Kipp Socal Public Schools$4,425,417EducationKarsh Family Foundation
KIPP Public Schools NC$4,364,000EducationSilicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
Archway Classical Academy Lincoln$3,841,434FMVGreathearts Arizona
Archway Classical Academy Veritas$3,763,089FMVGreathearts Arizona
Kipp Columbus$3,530,500To Create A System of Schools Where Students Develop the Intellectual, Academic, and Social Skills Needed To Understand and Take Action on Issues They Encounter in Everyday Life.The Wexner Family Charitable Fund
Green Dot Public Schools Washington State$3,507,922Education and Human Service NeedsBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Arete Preparatory Academy$3,270,001FMVGreathearts Arizona
Archway Classical Academy Arete$2,852,511FMVGreathearts Arizona
Archway Classical Academy Chandler$2,821,042FMVGreathearts Arizona
Cicero Preparatory Academy$2,757,014FMVGreathearts Arizona
Equitas Academy Charter School$2,750,000Facility and School GrowthGreat Public Schools Now
North Phoenix Preparatory Academy$2,747,035FMVGreathearts Arizona
Archway Classical Academy Cicero$2,735,908FMVGreathearts Arizona
Washington State Charter Schools Association$2,714,654Education and Human Service NeedsBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools$2,500,000Operating Support in Response To the Covid-19 Pandemic ($1 Million) and Capital Support To Complete Kipp Soul ($1.5 Million).Joseph B Whitehead Foundation
New America Schools Network (NAS)$5,000GeneralJewish Community Foundation of San Diego
Kipp Columbus$5,000Secondary EducationColumbus Jewish Foundation
Achievement First$5,000To Equip Minority Students To Perform at the Same High Levels As Their Peers in Wealthy Communities.The Orchard Farm Foundation
Lift For Life Academy (LFLA)$5,000Support Daily OperationsStifel Foundation
King Center Charter School (KCCS)$5,000CharitableIgo Family Foundation
E.L. Haynes Public Charter School$5,000K-12 EducationBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Methodology: To determine grants and grantees, Cause IQ analyzes electronically-filed Form 990, Form 990-EZ, and Form 990-PF financial disclosure documents, matching grantees to specific organizations using EINs and fuzzy matching logic. The "Charter schools" category for this page is determined by the "B29: Charter Schools" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.