Public Education Foundation of Charlottesville-Albemarle

What Public Education Foundation of Charlottesville-Albemarle does

The Public Education Foundation of Charlottesville-Albemarle (PEFCA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2004 that funds and delivers enrichment programs for the public school systems of Charlottesville City and Albemarle County, Virginia. The foundation serves 18,437 students across the two districts and is governed by a board that includes ex-officio seats for both district superintendents and school board representatives, giving it structural integration with district leadership.

PEFCA's core offerings are organized around Teacher Innovation Grants (a twice-yearly competitive grant program for teachers, with 15 funded in 2024 and 20 in 2026), the UVA-partnered STEAM Camp for middle schoolers, the World Peace Games for 4th and 5th-grade students, the FUTURECVILLE STEM Career Pathway Pilot launched at Charlottesville Middle School in Fall 2025, a Videography Internship, the Buford Fine Arts Camp, and annual support for the WinterSongs choral concert. Programs are delivered through direct school-district partnerships rather than a proprietary technology platform, and PEFCA itself operates as a small organization with 1-10 staff.

Revenue is generated entirely through tax-deductible donations and grants from individuals (suggested amounts of $10, $50, $100, or custom, monthly recurring or one-time), local corporate partners (United Bank, WoodsRogers, BAMA WORKS, Hilltop Foundation, Great Eastern Management, VMDO), and external foundations (Manning, Caplin, Botwinick-Wolfensohn). The organization carries GuideStar/Candid Platinum Transparency 2026 and Great Nonprofits Top-Rated recognitions and is part of the Learning First Alliance's Public School Proud network.

Name

Public Education Foundation of Charlottesville-Albemarle

Legal name

Public Education Foundation of Charlottesville-Albemarle

Website

https://pefca.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

PEFCA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2004 that funds Teacher Innovation Grants and enrichment programs (STEAM Camp, World Peace Games, FUTURECVILLE STEM) for 18,437 public school students across Charlottesville City and Albemarle County, Virginia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Education Nonprofit Foundation

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

After-School, Tutoring & Academic Enrichment Nonprofits (BPAGADAC)

Keywords

• Public education funding
• Teacher innovation grants
• Education nonprofit foundation
• STEAM education programs
• School district partnerships

Headquarters

HQ city

Charlottesville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: PEFCA receives tax-deductible donations from individuals through its website donation portal. Donors can give monthly recurring or one-time contributions in amounts of $10, $50, $100, or custom amounts.
2. Foundation and Corporate Grants: The foundation receives support from corporate partners (Hilltop Foundation, Great Eastern Management Company, United Bank, WoodsRogers, BAMA WORKS, etc.) and foundations (Manning Foundation, Caplin Foundation, Botwinick-Wolfensohn Foundation).
3. Community and Business Partnerships: PEFCA partners with local businesses and organizations that provide financial support and expertise to support public education initiatives in the two school districts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

PEFCA operates a portfolio of grant programs and educational enrichment initiatives for Charlottesville City and Albemarle County public schools, including the competitive Teacher Innovation Grant, STEAM Camp (with UVA Engineering), World Peace Games, FUTURECVILLE STEM Career Pathway Pilot, Videography Internship, and Buford Fine Arts Camp. Funding comes from individual donations, foundation grants, and corporate sponsorships. The foundation directly reaches roughly 18,437 K-12 students across the two school districts.

Product overview

The Public Education Foundation of Charlottesville-Albemarle (PEFCA) is a community-based nonprofit organization founded in 2004 that enhances teaching and learning in local public schools. Rather than a unified software product, PEFCA operates a portfolio of grant programs and educational initiatives including the Teacher Innovation Grant (competitive funding for teacher-led classroom projects), STEAM Camp (summer enrichment partnership with UVA), World Peace Games (global education program for elementary students), FUTURECVILLE STEM Career Pathway (middle school career-connected learning), Videography Internship, Fine Arts Camp, and WinterSongs choral support. These programs serve 18,437 students across Albemarle County and Charlottesville City public schools, funded through donations and partnerships with local businesses and community organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Teacher Innovation Grant
• STEAM Camp
• World Peace Games
• FUTURECVILLE STEM Career Pathway Pilot
• PEFCA Videography Internship
• Buford Fine Arts Camp
• WinterSongs Concert Support

Quantifiable outcome

• 18,437 students served across 2 school districts
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of Virginia School of EngineeringcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 July 2024UVA Engineering partners with PEFCA for the annual STEAM Camp, providing engineering expertise and student mentorship. Middle school students from Charlottesville and Albemarle County participate in hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math activities led by UVA engineering students and graduates.
• Albemarle Foundation for Education (AFE)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 February 2024Joint partnership for the 10th annual WinterSongs concert, with AFE and PEFCA committing to match the first $2,000 in donations for the Shelter for Help in Emergency.
• VMDOminorOthersArchitecture firm partner listed as supporter of PEFCA.
• Roudabush, Gale, and AssociatesminorOthersBusiness partner supporting PEFCA's educational mission.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Learning First Alliance: National alliance that PEFCA participates in (via Public Schools Week and publicschoolproud.org). Adjacent, not a direct competitor: a national umbrella for member education-focused organizations rather than a local grantmaker.

Broad incumbents

• San Francisco Education Fund: A well-established urban education foundation supporting SFUSD teachers and students via grants, career pathways, and enrichment. Comparable mission but much larger city-wide scale relative to PEFCA.
• Boston Public Schools Foundation: A nonprofit foundation that funds innovation, teacher grants, and enrichment across Boston Public Schools. Same broad model as PEFCA - public-school grantmaking and enrichment - at urban scale.
• Charlottesville Area Community Foundation: The regional community foundation for the Charlottesville area. PEFCA sits in its ecosystem but CACF operates a much broader grant portfolio, including education, and competes for similar local donor dollars.
• DC Public Education Fund (USEd): A DC-based nonprofit that channels private capital to public-school innovation and teacher projects - a close analogue to PEFCA's teacher-grant model, though at substantially larger scale and a single urban district.

Direct peers

• Pittsburgh Public Schools Foundation: Community-based nonprofit raising private funds to support innovation in one urban school district. Directly comparable in function (teacher grants, enrichment funding) though serving a much larger district than PEFCA.
• Albemarle Foundation for Education: A peer local education foundation supporting Albemarle County schools that PEFCA explicitly partners with on the WinterSongs concert. Directly comparable in mission (community-funded K-12 enrichment) and geography (Albemarle County).
• Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public School Foundation: A North Carolina community-based education foundation funding teacher grants and innovation for two public school districts. Functionally analogous to PEFCA's model in another college-town region.
• Public School Foundation of Horry County: A community-based nonprofit that funds grants and innovative programs for a single school district, operating a teacher-innovation-style grant pipeline similar to PEFCA's core program.

Emerging players

• DonorsChoose: An online platform that similarly channels individual donations to fund teacher classroom projects - parallel to PEFCA's Teacher Innovation Grant - but operates nationally with a digital marketplace model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Public Education Foundation of Charlottesville-Albemarle