Grants for special ed schools

2,632 special education schools and programs received at least $24.2 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 2,618 grants made from 1,600 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,500. Of these 1,600 foundations, 81% made just a single grant to special ed schools, and 4% made grants to four or more special ed schools. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$24,191,127
Total grant dollars given to special ed schools
2,618
Number of grants made annually to special ed schools
1,600
Number of grantmakers funding special ed schools
$1,500
Median grant size to special ed schools

Foundations that support special education schools and programs

Out of all grants made to special ed schools, 78% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 79% of the dollar-value of grants to special ed schools. Foundations funding special ed schools also made grants to religious organizations, christian organizations, food banks, religious media organizations, and universities.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
1,257
Medium
 
183
Large
 
160
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
 
50
Private
 
1,347
Corporate
 
81
Other
 
122

Grants made

Grants made to special ed schoolsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
1,298
2-3
 
234
4-10
 
52
11+
 
16

Top 10 foundations supporting special education schools and programs

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to special ed schoolsNumber of grants made to special ed schoolsMedian grant size
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.3%96$350
Community Foundation of Greater Des MoinesIAState0.1%60$550
Chubb Charitable FoundationPANational0.6%54$250
Arthur J Gallagher FoundationILNational2.7%48$584
Baird FoundationWINational0.8%42$500
Tulsa Community FoundationOKNational0.1%29$5,000
Fidelity FoundationMANational11.2%27$750
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.2%27$500
Seattle FoundationWAState0.0%21$2,000
Carmax FoundationVANational0.3%21$1,000

Special education schools and programs grantees

Special ed schools with more than $5 million in total revenues received 92% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 50% of all special ed schools.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
2,613
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
5

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$1,000
$100k-$500k
 
$1,818
$500k-$1M
 
$2,493
$1M-$5M
 
$2,000
>$5M
 
$2,000

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
New York
 
245
Illinois
 
235
California
 
208
New Jersey
 
164
Other
 
1,766

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
New York City
 
296
Chicago
 
233
Los Angeles
 
115
Philadelphia
 
88
Other
 
1,767

Top 25 grants made to special ed schools

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Carroll School$6,100,000Land AcquisitionFidelity Foundation
The Gateway School of New York$3,700,000For the Renovation ProjectFriends of the Gateway School
The Gateway School of New York$3,700,000CostFriends of the Gateway School
Regina Catholic Education Center$2,751,410Capital ProjectRegina Foundation
Notre Dame High School San Jose$2,509,140EducationSilicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
The Dominican Foundation of Dominican Friars Province of St Jo$5,000Unrestricted UseBurleigh Family Foundation
The Gray Academy$5,000Employee MatchingKayne Anderson Capital Advisors Foundation
The Howard School (THS)$5,000ContributionTW Price Gilbert JR Charitable Fund
St James Parish and School$5,000X22 Roman CatholicThe Community Foundation of Louisville Depository
Owensboro Consolidated Catholic School System$5,000B Educational InstitutionsThe Community Foundation of Louisville Depository
St John the Baptist Catholic Church$5,000X Religion Spiritual DevelopmentThe Community Foundation of Louisville Depository
Bodine of Germantown$5,0002016 Grant From Kathryn & Jim GillilandGilliland Family Fund
Foundation for the Advancement for Catholic Schools$5,000Facs Fund 2017Rhoda and David Chase Family Foundation
De La Salle North Catholic High School$5,0002018 April Luncheon FundThe Bernice Heffernan Family Foundation
Childhood League$5,000EducationThe Columbus Foundation
Childhood League$5,000EducationThe Columbus Foundation
Childhood League$5,000EducationThe Columbus Foundation
United States Catholic Conference / St Thomas More Newman Center$5,000ReligionThe Columbus Foundation
Dominican Sisters of Peace$5,000EducationThe Columbus Foundation
Archdiocese of Newark$5,000ReligionThe Columbus Foundation
Childhood League$5,000EducationThe Columbus Foundation
Dominican Sisters of Peace$5,000ConservationThe Columbus Foundation
Concordia Learning Center at St Josephs School for the Blind$5,000General OperatingRudolph Williams Charitable Trust
St Malachy School$5,000General PurposeJ M Ragen JR Memorial Trust
Catholic Charities of Central Colorado$5,000Grant for Family ServicesMabel Horrigan 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 "Special ed schools" category for this page is determined by the "B28: Special Education Institutions, Programs" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.