The Oakland Public Education Fund
Oakland, CA · EIN 43-2014630. Reported 95 grants totalling $34.6M to 62 organizations across tax years 2020-2023, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. For The Oakland Public Education Fund, the IRS classifies it under education rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE B99) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
- How spread out its giving is. 62 distinct organizations, with 73% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is concentrated. Most of the money has a settled destination, and the remainder is what is realistically in play.
- How much its list changes. 17% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 3 year-to-year transitions. That is below the 57% median for grantmaking charities, and well below the 67% private foundations manage. A list that turns over this much is one a newcomer can realistically join.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $45,000. Half of what it reported fell between $18,000 and $140,529; the smallest was $5,125 and the largest $7,889,138. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Unified School District | Oakland, CA | $25.1M | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Oakland Natives Give Back Fund | Oakland, CA | $888,082 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Safe Passages | Oakland, CA | $854,717 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Oakland Tech Exchange | Oakland, CA | $693,086 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| East Bay Agency for Children | Oakland, CA | $689,306 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Oakland Reach | Oakland, CA | $668,539 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| East Bay Asian Youth Center | Oakland, CA | $653,008 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| East Bay Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation | Oakland, CA | $643,260 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Oakland California Youth Outreach | Oakland, CA | $452,672 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Freedom School LLC | Oakland, CA | $360,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Friends of Peralta Hacienda Historical Park | Oakland, CA | $305,761 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Oakland Kids First | Oakland, CA | $294,237 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Soccer Without Borders | Baltimore, MD | $268,901 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Higher Ground Neighborhood Development Corporation | Oakland, CA | $268,606 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Oakland Pacific Islander Network | San Leandro, CA | $220,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Acta Non Verba Youth Urban Farm Project | Oakland, CA | $211,010 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Bay Area Community Resources | El Cerrito, CA | $205,875 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Oakland Promise | Oakland, CA | $131,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Golder State Warriors | San Francisco, CA | $130,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Cares for Learning Dba Fluentseeds | Stillwater, MN | $121,183 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Samoan Community Development Center Incorporated | San Francisco, CA | $120,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| New Teacher Center | Sacramento, CA | $110,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Social Good Fund Inc | Richmond, CA | $86,850 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Lincoln | Oakland, CA | $85,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Community Child Care Coordinating Council of Alameda County | Hayward, CA | $66,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| City of Oakland | Oakland, CA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation | Oakland, CA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Nexplore | Hallandale Beach, FL | $46,800 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Ujimaa Foundation | Oakland, CA | $46,800 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Lighthouse Community Public Schools | Oakland, CA | $46,611 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Empathway Designs LLC | Oakland, CA | $45,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Quantumcamp Inc | Oakland, CA | $45,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Bananas Incorporated | Oakland, CA | $44,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Education for Change | Oakland, CA | $44,431 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Hubbleiq Inc | Orinda, CA | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| East Bay Consortium of Educational Institutions | Oakland, CA | $35,856 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Lotus Bloom | Oakland, CA | $34,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Community Development Finance | Oakland, CA | $33,825 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Parent Voices Oakland | Oakland, CA | $33,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Oakland Leaf Foundation | Oakland, CA | $32,160 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Playworks Education Energized | Oakland, CA | $31,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Bay Area Parent Leadership Action Network | Oakland, CA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Last Cast Production | Alameda, CA | $24,800 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Aspire Public Schools | Oakland, CA | $24,728 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| American Association of Yemeni Stud Ents and Professionals | Dearborn, MI | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Chinese for Affirmative Action | San Francisco, CA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Health Initiatives for Youth Inc | San Francisco, CA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Aspire Public Schools Foundation | Oakland, CA | $18,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Led Better Inc | Las Vegas, NV | $18,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Pacific Bridge Club Inc | Lathrop, CA | $18,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Planting Justice | Oakland, CA | $18,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Citizen Schools Inc | Boston, MA | $15,724 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Asian Health Services | Oakland, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Bay Area Technology School | Oakland, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Community School for Creative Education | Oakland, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Oakland School for the Arts | Oakland, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| South Asian Girls Project Inc | Los Angeles, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| American Indian Model Schools | Oakland, CA | $8,864 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Oakland Childrens Fairyland Inc | Oakland, CA | $6,720 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Unity Schools | Oakland, CA | $6,582 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Envision Education Inc | Oakland, CA | $5,485 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| T Gary and Kathleen Rogers Private Family Foundation | Lafayette, CA | $5,125 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
22 of 62 (35%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.
- Oakland Unified School District
FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUPPORTING THE OAKLAND UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THE AREAS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS, WHOLE CHILD SUPPORTS, EDUCATOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AND INNOVATION ACROSS MIDDLE SCHOOLS; TO PAY SALARY FOR ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL AT ROOSEVELT MIDDLE SCHOOL; TO SUPPORT THE ATHLETIC COACH AT MELROSE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY FOR THE 22-23 SCHOOL YEAR. - Oakland Natives Give Back Inc
TO INCREASE ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT OF DISCONNECTED STUDENTS AND FAMILIES FOLLOWING COVID SCHOOL CLOSURES USING A COMMUNITY SCHOOLS APPROACH. - Tech Exchange
GENERAL SUPPORT OF THE ORGANIZATION. - The Oakland Reach
TO DIRECTLY EMPLOY THE 8 FAMILY LIASONS AND 14 LITERACY LIBERATORS; TO HELP WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MATH TUTORING MODEL. - East Bay Agency for Children
TO SUPPORT THE OAKLAND COMMUNITY UNITED FOR EDUCATION SUCCESS (CUES) PROGRAM TO INCREASE ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT OF DISCONNECTED STUDENTS AND FAMILIES. - Oakland Pacific Islander Network
THE PURPOSE OF THE GRANT IS TO ASSIST WITH THE GOAL FROM CUES (GOAL #3): 80% OF TARGETED 9TH TO 12TH GRADE STUDENTS, IN THE FOLLOWING NEIGHBORHOODS ACROSS THE CITY 1) FRUITVALE, 2) EAST OAKLAND, 3) WEST OAKLAND, AND 4) CENTRAL OAKLAND SAN ANTONIO, WILL SHOW IMPROVEMENT IN ON TRACK TO GRADUATE AS DETERMINED BY EARLY WARNING INDICATOR DATA.
What kind of organizations it funds
By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 49 of 62 recipients we could match to a registered organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 33 | $10.1M | $46,800 |
| 2021 | 12 | $6,359,577 | $34,912 |
| 2022 | 28 | $10.1M | $49,167 |
| 2023 | 22 | $8,014,836 | $52,319 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
99% of its giving went to organizations in California. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.
Down to the city
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Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. Shared grantees are the strongest signal available that two funders have overlapping priorities -- and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $45,000 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in California.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from The Oakland Public Education Fund's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred or estimated.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 18 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 4 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: Po Box 71005, Oakland, CA, 94612.
EIN 43-2014630 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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