Grants for elementary schools

1,961 elementary and primary schools received at least $124.4 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 3,258 grants made from 2,092 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,600. Of these 2,092 foundations, 80% made just a single grant to elementary schools, and 3% made grants to four or more elementary schools. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$124,430,098
Total grant dollars given to elementary schools
3,258
Number of grants made annually to elementary schools
2,092
Number of grantmakers funding elementary schools
$1,600
Median grant size to elementary schools

Foundations that support elementary and primary schools

Out of all grants made to elementary schools, 80% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 94% of the dollar-value of grants to elementary schools. Foundations funding elementary schools also made grants to high schools, colleges, multiservice human service organizations, religious organizations, and universities.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
1,692
Medium
 
217
Large
 
182
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
 
54
Private
 
1,854
Corporate
 
95
Other
 
89

Grants made

Grants made to elementary schoolsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
1,681
2-3
 
333
4-10
 
58
11+
 
20

Top 10 foundations supporting elementary and primary schools

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to elementary schoolsNumber of grants made to elementary schoolsMedian grant size
Fidelity FoundationMANational0.2%70$1,500
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)TNMetro0.2%52$1,000
Tulsa Community FoundationOKNational0.2%50$5,000
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.2%42$656
Baird FoundationWINational0.6%39$250
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.3%37$1,000
Chubb Charitable FoundationPANational0.7%34$500
Seattle FoundationWAState0.1%26$2,500
The Rhode Island FoundationRIMetro0.1%26$1,000
Ralph J Harary FoundationNYMetro1.8%19$1,500

Elementary and primary schools grantees

Elementary schools with more than $5 million in total revenues received 93% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 60% of all elementary schools.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
3,242
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
16

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$1,875
$100k-$500k
 
$1,010
$500k-$1M
 
$1,500
$1M-$5M
 
$1,506
>$5M
 
$1,556

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
New York
 
391
California
 
331
New Jersey
 
279
Massachusetts
 
185
Other
 
2,072

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
New York City
 
557
Boston
 
154
Los Angeles
 
126
Chicago
 
106
Other
 
2,120

Top 25 grants made to elementary schools

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Elmer A. Henderson: A Johns Hopkins Partnership School (EBCS)$55,051,116Note ReceivableEast Baltimore Development Foundation
Meeting Street Schools (MSS)$10,002,000General Charitable PurposeBeemok Family Foundation
The Nueva School$5,000,000Capital CampaignSergey Brin Family Foundation
Trivium Preparatory Academy$4,901,103FMVGreathearts Arizona
Veritas Preparatory Academy$4,491,943FMVGreathearts Arizona
Elizabeth Academy$4,435,286General Charitable PurposesSorenson Legacy Foundation
Chandler Preparatory Academy$4,151,542FMVGreathearts Arizona
Maryvale Preparatory Academy$4,109,840FMVGreathearts Arizona
Trinity School$4,000,000EducationE and SS Foundation
Kalamazoo Christian School Association (KCSA)$4,000,000Loan AgreementKalamazoo Christian School Fund
Glendale Preparatory Academy$3,326,142FMVGreathearts Arizona
Archway Classical Academy Glendale$3,038,523FMVGreathearts Arizona
Hebrew Academy of Cleveland$2,954,841Annual Allocation, Day School Tuition Reduction Grant, Maot Chitim, Kollel Pesach, Scholarships, Capital Campaign, General SupportJewish Federation of Cleveland
Lincoln Preparatory Academy$2,880,694FMVGreathearts Arizona
Menlo School$2,530,016EducationSilicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
Foundation For Excellence at Woodland Christian Schools$2,500,000Our Future Is Now CampaignCommunity Foundation of Western Nevada (CFWN)
The Academy at Ocean Reef$5,000CharitableThe Bailey Foundation
Hawthorn Leadership School for Girls$5,000General SupportEmma Clyde Hodge Memorial Fund
Stanley Clark School$5,000General SupportRobert J Hiler Family Foundation
Lexington School$5,000B20 Elementary Secondary EdThe Community Foundation of Louisville Depository
Chattanooga Christian School$5,000Education - YouthRobert L. and Kathrina H. Maclellan Foundation
Green Vale School$5,000EducationAinslie Foundation
Yeshivath Beth Yehudah$5,000To Support the ReligionSchostak Family Support Foundation
The Langley School$5,000Continuing Education for Langley TeachersCaneel Family Foundation
Westridge School$5,000General PurposeThe Fitzberg 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 "Elementary schools" category for this page is determined by the "B24: Elementary School" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.