Grants for elementary and secondary schools

8,554 preschool, elementary, and secondary schools received at least $883.1 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 12,530 grants made from 5,952 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,500. Of these 5,952 foundations, 67% made just a single grant to grade schools, and 7% made grants to four or more grade schools. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$883,080,119
Total grant dollars given to elementary and secondary schools
12,530
Number of grants made annually to elementary and secondary schools
5,952
Number of grantmakers funding elementary and secondary schools
$1,500
Median grant size to elementary and secondary schools

Foundations that support preschool, elementary, and secondary schools

Out of all grants made to elementary and secondary schools, 83% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 77% of the dollar-value of grants to grade schools. Foundations funding grade schools also made grants to elementary schools, high schools, universities, religious organizations, and christian organizations.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
4,947
Medium
 
624
Large
 
380
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
 
97
Private
 
5,291
Corporate
 
233
Other
 
331

Grants made

Grants made to grade schoolsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
4,006
2-3
 
1,484
4-10
 
391
11+
 
71

Top 10 foundations supporting preschool, elementary, and secondary schools

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to grade schoolsNumber of grants made to grade schoolsMedian grant size
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.9%253$350
Fidelity FoundationMANational11.9%218$1,500
Baird FoundationWINational4.0%201$500
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)TNMetro10.1%160$1,000
Chubb Charitable FoundationPANational2.0%144$357
The Rhode Island FoundationRIMetro0.6%136$1,055
Tulsa Community FoundationOKNational5.6%133$5,000
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational1.0%133$500
Seattle FoundationWAState0.2%90$2,000
Arthur J Gallagher FoundationILNational4.0%86$500

Preschool, elementary, and secondary schools grantees

Elementary and secondary schools with more than $5 million in total revenues received 94% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 66% of all grade schools.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
12,449
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
81

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$1,300
$100k-$500k
 
$1,500
$500k-$1M
 
$1,300
$1M-$5M
 
$1,700
>$5M
 
$1,500

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
California
 
1,209
New York
 
1,131
Massachusetts
 
927
New Jersey
 
694
Other
 
8,569

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
New York City
 
1,388
Boston
 
674
Chicago
 
548
Los Angeles
 
478
Other
 
8,642

Top 25 grants made to elementary and secondary schools

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Flintridge Preparatory School$452,895,679AccrualSaint Joseph Health (SJH)
Elmer A. Henderson: A Johns Hopkins Partnership School (EBCS)$55,051,116Note ReceivableEast Baltimore Development Foundation
Imagine Schools$13,827,764CostImagine Schools
The Trustees of the Cushing Academy$11,426,220EducationEG Watkins Family Foundation
Tallulah Falls School (TFS)$10,462,008General SupportLettie Pate Evans Foundation
Town School for Boys Alumni Association$10,010,000EducationSilicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
Meeting Street Schools (MSS)$10,002,000General Charitable PurposeBeemok Family Foundation
Thaden School$9,949,000ConstructionArkansas Community Foundation
School Smart KC$8,628,288EducationGreater Kansas City Community Foundation
Making Waves Academy$7,050,000General SupportScully Memorial Foundation
Tulsa Educare$6,710,240General OperationsTulsa Community Foundation
The Episcopal School of Los Angeles (ESLA)$6,620,007EducationCalifornia Community Foundation
The Dr Miriam and Sheldon G Adelson Educational Campus$6,606,487General Charitable PurposesAdelson Family Foundation
Carroll School$6,100,000Land AcquisitionFidelity Foundation
KIPP Houston Public Schools (KIPP)$6,000,000Construction, Program, SalariesPHILO Finance Corporation
Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia$5,364,126Building GrantSt Catherine's School Foundation
Episcopal High School (EHS)$5,231,004General SupportLettie Pate Evans Foundation
Archway Classical Academy Scottsdale$5,093,846FMVGreathearts Arizona
Thaden School$5,011,684Operating GrantArkansas Community Foundation
Garrison Forest School (GFS)$5,000,000($50,000 for the Annual Fund and $4,950,000 Undesignated)Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)
The Nueva School$5,000,000Capital CampaignSergey Brin Family Foundation
Summit Public Schools (SPS)$5,000,000General Operating SupportChan Zuckerberg Initiative Foundation
Trivium Preparatory Academy$4,901,103FMVGreathearts Arizona
Thaden School$4,783,000Construction SupportArkansas Community Foundation
Scottsdale Preparatory Academy$4,641,612FMVGreathearts Arizona
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 and secondary schools" category for this page is determined by the "B20: Elementary, Secondary Education" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.