Dive Brief:
- The third annual study and ranking of K-12 education foundations by the Caruthers Institute (formerly Dewey & Associates) found that the nation’s top 25 and 50 foundations tend to cluster in six states.
- In announcing the 2016 results, Caruthers Institute reported Florida had 11 foundations in the top 50, Texas had eight, Tennessee and California had three, Colorado and Utah had two, and New York City also had two.
- The Pinellas Education Foundation in Florida and Omaha Schools Foundation in Nebraska have ranked in the top five for the past three years, and 40 foundations raised $2 million or more in 2014, the year from which the study data comes.
Dive Insight:
With many schools and districts struggling to provide services despite tight budgets, additional funding from outside foundations can be critical. This is true for traditional public schools, charters and private schools. There is massive variety in the amount that school or district foundations bring in, however, with some being excited about a few thousand dollars to support extracurricular activities and others expecting millions.
In California’s wealthy Newport Beach neighborhood, the Newport Heights Elementary School Foundation raises more than $300,000 each year for a single, public K-6 elementary school. Like many of its peers, it has turned to customer relationship management tools — in its case, the Salesforce.org nonprofit success pack — to keep donor information and fundraising drives organized.