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 size Number 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 type Number of grantmakers
Community
 
54
Private
 
1,854
Corporate
 
95
Other
 
89

Grants made

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

Top 10 foundations supporting elementary and primary schools

Grantmaker State Geographic focus Percent of grant dollars to elementary schools Number of grants made to elementary schools Median grant size
Fidelity Foundation MA National 0.2% 70 $1,500
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT) TN Metro 0.2% 52 $1,000
Tulsa Community Foundation OK National 0.2% 50 $5,000
Abbvie Foundation IL National 0.2% 42 $656
Baird Foundation WI National 0.6% 39 $250
Shell Oil Company Foundation TX National 0.3% 37 $1,000
Chubb Charitable Foundation PA National 0.7% 34 $500
Seattle Foundation WA State 0.1% 26 $2,500
The Rhode Island Foundation RI Metro 0.1% 26 $1,000
Ralph J Harary Foundation NY Metro 1.8% 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 grant Number of grants
<$10k
 
3,242
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
16

Grant amount by grantee size

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

Grantee states

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

Grantee metros

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

Top 25 grants made to elementary schools

Grantee Grant size Purpose Grantmaker
Elmer A. Henderson: A Johns Hopkins Partnership School (EBCS) $55,051,116 Note Receivable East Baltimore Development Foundation
Meeting Street Schools (MSS) $10,002,000 General Charitable Purpose Beemok Family Foundation
The Nueva School $5,000,000 Capital Campaign Sergey Brin Family Foundation
Trivium Preparatory Academy $4,901,103 FMV Greathearts Arizona
Veritas Preparatory Academy $4,491,943 FMV Greathearts Arizona
Elizabeth Academy $4,435,286 General Charitable Purposes Sorenson Legacy Foundation
Chandler Preparatory Academy $4,151,542 FMV Greathearts Arizona
Maryvale Preparatory Academy $4,109,840 FMV Greathearts Arizona
Trinity School $4,000,000 Education E and SS Foundation
Kalamazoo Christian School Association (KCSA) $4,000,000 Loan Agreement Kalamazoo Christian School Fund
Glendale Preparatory Academy $3,326,142 FMV Greathearts Arizona
Archway Classical Academy Glendale $3,038,523 FMV Greathearts Arizona
Hebrew Academy of Cleveland $2,954,841 Annual Allocation, Day School Tuition Reduction Grant, Maot Chitim, Kollel Pesach, Scholarships, Capital Campaign, General Support Jewish Federation of Cleveland
Lincoln Preparatory Academy $2,880,694 FMV Greathearts Arizona
Menlo School $2,530,016 Education Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
Foundation For Excellence at Woodland Christian Schools $2,500,000 Our Future Is Now Campaign Community Foundation of Western Nevada (CFWN)
The Academy at Ocean Reef $5,000 Charitable The Bailey Foundation
Hawthorn Leadership School for Girls $5,000 General Support Emma Clyde Hodge Memorial Fund
Stanley Clark School $5,000 General Support Robert J Hiler Family Foundation
Lexington School $5,000 B20 Elementary Secondary Ed The Community Foundation of Louisville Depository
Chattanooga Christian School $5,000 Education - Youth Robert L. and Kathrina H. Maclellan Foundation
Green Vale School $5,000 Education Ainslie Foundation
Yeshivath Beth Yehudah $5,000 To Support the Religion Schostak Family Support Foundation
The Langley School $5,000 Continuing Education for Langley Teachers Caneel Family Foundation
Westridge School $5,000 General Purpose The 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.