Imagine Learning Foundation

Imagine Learning Foundation (ILF) is the corporate foundation of K-12 ed-tech company Imagine Learning, launched in 2021 with an initial $5 million, multi-year commitment (the FY2021 990 shows a single $5,199,540 contribution that seeded the fund, with $0 granted that first year while the program stood up). It runs on two tracks: the national, competitive Signature Grant Program ($25,000-$100,000 per award, roughly $600,000+ distributed annually) and the smaller, rolling Grassroots Grant Program, which only accepts nominations from current Imagine Learning employees for community-level initiatives like anti-bullying campaigns and before/after-school programs. For most outside applicants, Signature Grants are the only realistic entry point.

ILF clearly favors renewing relationships over one-off gifts. In the 990-reported grantee data, Erika's Lighthouse received three separate grants totaling $250,000, and it (along with SchoolHouse Connection + Attendance Works) reappeared as a 2025 Signature grantee — the Foundation's own language describes 2025 as "a mix of continuing partnerships with proven organizations and new initiatives." First-time applicants should read this as a multi-year courtship: initial grants tend to be smaller and prove-it-out, with larger or repeat awards following demonstrated impact.

The governance model is lean and volunteer: Chairman/President Christopher Graham, Secretary Adrienne Rytting, and a Treasurer (J. Brent Taylor, succeeded by Brad McCord) all show $0 officer compensation across three consecutive tax years, meaning this is not a foundation with a large program-officer staff to cultivate individually — most applicant contact runs through the ZoomGrants portal and published guidelines rather than one-on-one relationship-building. Grantee organizations skew toward those with national or multi-state delivery — BackPack Brigade, Catie's Closet, Operation Warm, and Sleep in Heavenly Peace all operate broad, replicable networks rather than single-city programs — so applicants should frame their reach and scalability prominently, not just local impact. With total annual giving in the $460,000-$605,000 range, this is a mid-size, highly targeted funder rather than a mega-donor; align tightly with the stated annual priority instead of submitting a broad general-support pitch.

ILF's grantmaking has grown steadily since its 2021 launch. FY2021 (inception year): $0 grants paid against a $5,199,540 initial contribution from Imagine Learning. FY2022: $240,000 grants paid, $284,780 total giving. FY2023 (most recent 990 on file): $421,400 grants paid, $460,113 total giving, against total assets of $4,620,896 and net investment income of $180,076. Publicly announced Signature Grant totals track this trajectory upward: $605,000 across seven organizations in the 2025 cycle, and a stated target of "$600,000 or more" for 2026 — bringing cumulative giving since 2021 to over $1.86 million across roughly 40 grants, reaching more than 413,000 students in 1,700 U.S. communities per the Foundation's own count.

At the individual-grant level, the 990-derived grantee data (20 grants, $901,400 in aggregate recipient totals, $45,070 average) shows a wide spread: single grants as small as $10,000 (826 New Orleans, GirlForward, Compton Junior Equestrians) up to a cumulative $250,000 across three grants to Erika's Lighthouse and $200,000 across two grants to Up2us Inc. Recipients receiving two or more grants (Erika's Lighthouse, Up2us, I've Got Your Back, Inner Explorer, Inspira Dance, New Pathways for Youth) account for a large share of total dollars, reinforcing the renewal pattern. Publicly reported 2025 Signature awards ran narrower and higher on average — $50,000 to $100,000 per organization, averaging roughly $86,400 — consistent with the Signature Program's published $25,000-$100,000 band.

Every disclosed grant purpose in the 990 data is coded "GENERAL SUPPORT," indicating ILF funds organizational capacity rather than restricted line-item projects. Geographically, grantees span at least ten states with no concentration near ILF's Tempe, Arizona headquarters — Illinois (4 grants), Virginia (3), and two each in Arizona, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York — reflecting Imagine Learning's nationwide K-12 customer footprint rather than a local-giving mandate.

ILF sits in roughly the same asset band as these five peer education foundations ($3.7M-$4.6M) but is distinguished by being an active, single-employer corporate foundation with a defined, competitive, nationally-advertised application process (ZoomGrants portal, published annual guidelines) rather than a closed family foundation likely operating by invitation or personal network. None of the listed peers publish a comparable public RFP, press cadence, or grantee announcement — ILF is unusually transparent for its size, issuing annual press releases naming grantees and dollar amounts. For grant seekers, this makes ILF one of the few funders in this asset tier genuinely worth a cold Signature Grant application rather than requiring a warm introduction.

On October 2, 2025, ILF announced its 2025 Signature Grant cohort: seven organizations (BackPack Brigade, Catie's Closet, City Year Los Angeles, Erika's Lighthouse, Operation Warm, SchoolHouse Connection + Attendance Works, and Sleep in Heavenly Peace) sharing $605,000, with funding explicitly tied to chronic absenteeism (cited at 28% of students nationally), student homelessness (1.4 million public school students), and emergency relief for families affected by the Los Angeles-area wildfires. Chairman and President Christopher Graham was quoted: "Every student deserves the stability necessary to thrive, and that's exactly what these partnerships help us deliver."

The Foundation opened its 2026 Signature Grant cycle in February 2026, introducing a notable pivot: instead of a crisis/basic-needs framing, the new priority funds nonprofits that engage K-12 youth as "leaders and contributors in their communities" through authentic, age-appropriate service experiences. Graham's accompanying statement — "Young people want to make a difference. When we create space for them to lead and serve in their own communities, we're supporting more than just academic learning" — signals a strategic shift toward youth-agency and leadership-development programming. Applications for the 2026 cycle closed April 9, 2026 at 11:59pm PT, with award decisions expected in June 2026; as of this report, 2026 grantees have not yet been publicly announced. No leadership changes were identified — Graham has been the consistent public face of the Foundation across both cycles.

Apply only during the annual open window: the 2025 cycle ran roughly March-April 9 with July notifications, and the 2026 cycle ran February-April 9 (11:59pm PT) with June notifications — expect a similar February/March-to-April window going forward, and prepare materials before the portal opens rather than during the final weeks. All applications run through ZoomGrants; register or verify your account access early, since portal account issues cannot be resolved as a deadline-week emergency, and use the platform's Collaborators feature if grant writers, program staff, and finance need to jointly build the submission.

Align tightly to that year's stated priority rather than submitting a generic well-being pitch — ILF changes its funding lens annually (2025: chronic absenteeism, student homelessness, and disaster relief; 2026: youth-led community service and leadership). Read the current year's Signature Grant Guidelines PDF in full (posted each cycle to imaginelearningfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads) rather than reusing language from a prior cycle's guidelines, and mirror the Foundation's own vocabulary — 2026 applicants should explicitly reference "authentic, age-appropriate service experiences," "youth voice," and "reflection" in program descriptions.

Because every disclosed grant in the 990 data is coded general support, frame the ask as organizational capacity to deliver the mission-aligned outcome rather than a narrowly restricted project budget. Favor national or multi-state reach where genuinely true — nearly every 2025 Signature grantee (BackPack Brigade, Operation Warm, Sleep in Heavenly Peace, Catie's Closet) operates a replicable, multi-region model; hyper-local single-site organizations appear more often in the smaller, employee-nominated Grassroots track than in Signature awards.

Expect a modest board with no dedicated program-officer staff (all listed officers report $0 compensation), so relationship-building is limited — there is no evidence of site visits or an LOI-then-full-proposal staged process in public materials, so treat the ZoomGrants submission itself as the primary and possibly only touchpoint; make it complete and self-contained. First-time applicants should also note the renewal pattern: Erika's Lighthouse and SchoolHouse Connection + Attendance Works both received multiple awards over the years, so a modest first grant followed by a stronger renewal application citing measurable outcomes is a realistic path to a larger award. If your work fits the Grassroots track instead (smaller, community-level, non-academic well-being activities), the only path in is a nomination from a current Imagine Learning employee — worth pursuing if you have any existing relationship with Imagine Learning staff, sales, or regional teams.