Every child deserves a high-quality education.

The Charter School Growth Fund identifies the country’s best public charter schools, funds their growth and helps to increase their impact.

Our Approach

As a national nonprofit, we make multi-year, philanthropic investments in talented education entrepreneurs who are building networks of great charter schools. To date, we’ve funded 870 schools that serve over 370,000 students in 28 states, and we’re just getting started.

National Scope

We uncover the most promising charter schools in the country, regardless of where they are located.

To date, we have funded the expansion of charter networks across 28 states in a wide range of communities, ranging from Los Angeles and Nashville to rural Texas and the Mississippi River Delta.

The Students Who Need Us The Most

The charter school networks we support typically operate in underserved communities with limited access to high-quality schools.

Ninety-two percent of the students our portfolio members serve are students of color, and 81 percent are from low-income families.

Diverse Educational Approaches

We think families deserve to be able to choose from a range of school options.

The organizations in our portfolio serve students in all grades, range in size from a single school to more than 50, and build students’ skills in areas like STEM, foreign languages, and social-emotional learning.

Rigorous Selection

Data is critical to our decision making.

We use an analytical approach to identify the best charter networks in the country and help them develop a sound plan to grow. We compare their performance to that of local, state, and national peers, and get to know their leadership teams to assess their capacity for growth.

Customized Investments

We tailor our financial support to help charter schools succeed.

Our large, multiyear grants and low-interest loans are tied to customized goals. We are problem solvers and help management teams resolve the inevitable challenges of growth. We strive to be patient investors, but we are willing to restructure or end investments if problems are not resolved.

Learn More About Public Charter Schools

Strategic Support

We want our portfolio members to meet their goals, and we support them in doing so.

One of the greatest benefits of being part of our portfolio is the opportunity to learn from peer charter leaders. We coordinate meaningful learning opportunities and provide resources so charter school networks can build more effective organizations.

COMMUNITY

We bring together the charter leaders we support to exchange ideas and solve problems together. More than 250 charter leaders a year attend workshops focusing on important areas, such as talent, data management, enrollment, and fundraising.

ANNUAL PORTFOLIO RETREAT

The CSGF Portfolio Retreat is an opportunity for charter network leaders to learn, build connections, and hear new perspectives on their most significant challenges. Past retreats have featured candid conversations with distinguished leaders such as Bill Gates and Sheryl Sandberg.

INSIGHTS

We write about what’s working in high-quality charter schools in order to share tips and resources with other organizations. Please visit our Advice and How To page for the latest insights.

SOLUTIONS

Through our Impact Fund, we invest in solutions that have potential to benefit district and charter schools alike.

“The strong effect size of Charter School Growth Fund schools suggests that CSGF has developed a screening process to identify networks operating charter schools that are likely to operate successful schools as they grow.”