How do I find funders for a grassroots arts and culture nonprofit?

Start with the funders most focused on grassroots arts and culture organizations, currently George Mason University Foundation Inc, American Conservatory Theatre Foundation, The Conversation US Inc. Donor-advised funds and mega-funds are excluded, so these are funders that genuinely back organizations your size, not pass-through accounts.

What counts as a grassroots organization here?

Size is the organization's median total revenue across its filings: grassroots (under $1M). Cause is where each grant is placed by its stated purpose and the recipient's mission, falling back to the recipient's IRS activity category where that is unclear.

How much grant money goes to grassroots arts and culture organizations?

$9.6B reached 40,046 grassroots arts and culture organizations from 33,451 funders. Money parked in the regranting layer is netted out.

How recent is this data?

It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings across recent fiscal years. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.

Causes · Arts and culture · grassroots

Who funds grassroots arts and culture organizations

The funders that back grassroots arts and culture organizations are specialists, not generalists: George Mason University Foundation Inc gives them 96.4× the national rate, with 100% of its grants going here. These are the small organizations the big-institution funders usually miss, so the funders that show up here are the ones worth a small arts and culture nonprofit's time.

$9.6B

granted

40,046

organizations

33,451

funders

The short version

33,451 funders gave $9.6B to 40,046 grassroots arts and culture organizations (grassroots (under $1M)) across recent IRS filings.
The most focused funder is George Mason University Foundation Inc, giving 96.4× the national rate to grassroots arts and culture organizations.
The largest non-DAF funder is George Mason University Foundation Inc, at $241M.
The grassroots arts and culture organization drawing the most is Center for Media and Public Affairs, at $241M.

Funders most focused on grassroots arts and culture organizations

Not the biggest checks, the most committed: each gives this size and cause an outsized share of its budget against the national rate, shrunk toward that rate so a small specialist needs real volume to rank.

George Mason University Foundation Inc96.4×$241M · 100% of its giving American Conservatory Theatre Foundation85.8×$21M · 100% of its giving The Conversation US Inc80.9×$14M · 100% of its giving Cincinnati Center City Development Corp73.7×$10M · 98% of its giving Emy-Lou Biedenharn Foundation Trust Xxxxx200869.4×$7M · 100% of its giving Swedish Club Foundation68.7×$7M · 100% of its giving The Scioto County Area Foundation68.5×$32M · 75% of its giving The Zhao-Chen Family Foundation Inc65.8×$8M · 92% of its giving

Largest funders by dollars

Real grantmakers giving the most to grassroots arts and culture organizations (donor-advised and mega-funds excluded).

1George Mason University Foundation Inc$241M 2The Andrew W Mellon Foundation$190M 3Walton Family Foundation Inc$46M 4The Scioto County Area Foundation$32M 5The Howard Gilman Foundation Inc$29M 6Windgate Charitable Foundation Inc$29M 7Lilly Endowment Inc$27M 8The McKnight Foundation$26M

Grassroots arts and culture organizations that draw the most

Sized by grant dollars received. Pick one to see exactly who funds it.

40,036 other grassroots arts and culture organizations$9.2B

Questions and answers

How do I find funders for a grassroots arts and culture nonprofit?: Start with the funders most focused on grassroots arts and culture organizations, currently George Mason University Foundation Inc, American Conservatory Theatre Foundation, The Conversation US Inc. Donor-advised funds and mega-funds are excluded, so these are funders that genuinely back organizations your size, not pass-through accounts.
What counts as a grassroots organization here?: Size is the organization's median total revenue across its filings: grassroots (under $1M). Cause is where each grant is placed by its stated purpose and the recipient's mission, falling back to the recipient's IRS activity category where that is unclear.
How much grant money goes to grassroots arts and culture organizations?: $9.6B reached 40,046 grassroots arts and culture organizations from 33,451 funders. Money parked in the regranting layer is netted out.
How recent is this data?: It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings across recent fiscal years. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions

grants reported with no recipient in the public record

The regranting layer

51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer

The DAF merry-go-round

$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds

The camps

funders cluster by geography, not ideology

By state

where grant money is based, and what stays home

State money flows

the interactive map of money crossing state lines

Size is median total revenue; each grant is placed by its stated purpose and the recipient's mission, falling back to the recipient's IRS activity category where that is unclear. Read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file XML across recent fiscal years, among (c)(3) funders and recipients resolved by EIN, with the regranting layer netted out. Source: IRS Form 990 downloads.