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 leaders from around the country who are building networks of excellent public charter schools. We seek to fund existing schools that are doing a great job serving students and want to expand their impact. To date, we’ve funded 1,000 schools that serve nearly 500,000 students in 28 states, and we’re just getting started.

The Students Who Need Us The Most

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

96 percent of the students in our portfolio charter schools are students of color, and 82 percent are from low-income families.

A Variety of Educational Approaches

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

The organizations in our portfolio serve students in all grades and across a range of school models. They build students’ skills not only in foundational subjects, but also in areas like STEM, foreign languages, the arts, and social-emotional learning.

Supporting Leaders of Color

We believe it is vital for school leaders and teachers to represent the backgrounds of the students they serve.

Since 2013, we have funded over 40 charter school leaders of color to expand their impact and serve more students and families in their communities. We provide these leaders with funding, resources, and mentorship as they open more schools.

Rigorous Selection

Data is critical to our decision making.

We use an analytical approach to identify the best public charter schools and networks in the country and help them develop a sound plan to grow. We evaluate academic data for schools serving similar student populations, and we get to know the leadership teams to assess their capacity for growth.

Customized Financial Support

We tailor our funding to help charter schools succeed.

Our multi-year grants are tied to the financial needs of each organization. We create customized goals and we are problem solvers who help management teams resolve the inevitable challenges of growth. We are patient partners, but we are willing to restructure or end our support 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 300 charter leaders a year attend convenings focusing on areas they care about the most, such as high school design, school operations, enrollment systems, and leadership/culture.

ANNUAL PORTFOLIO RETREAT

The CSGF Portfolio Retreat is our annual event. It is an opportunity for charter network leaders to learn, build connections, and hear new perspectives on their most significant challenges.

Impact

Through the work of the CSGF Impact Team and Fund, we invest in solutions that leverage our portfolio’s expertise in key practice areas, including: academics and character; talent; finance and operations; and college/career access. Learn more.

Facility Funding

The CSGF Structured Finance Team is designed to address the challenges that charter leaders may face as they build, expand, and renovate school facilities by providing low-interest loans and technical support. Learn more.

“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.”