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

Start with the funders most focused on large arts and culture organizations, currently Npr Foundation, Pbs Foundation, Equal Justice Initiative. 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 large organization here?

Size is the organization's median total revenue across its filings: large ($10M and up). Cause is its NTEE classification in the IRS Business Master File.

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

$11.2B reached 752 large arts and culture organizations from 15,035 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 · large

Who funds large arts and culture organizations

The funders that back large arts and culture organizations are specialists, not generalists: Npr Foundation gives them 26.2× the national rate, with 100% of its grants going here. Large arts and culture institutions draw a deep funder base, 20 on average, so the competition for their attention is intense.

$11.2B

granted

752

organizations

15,035

funders

The short version

15,035 funders gave $11.2B to 752 large arts and culture organizations (large ($10M and up)) across recent IRS filings.
The most focused funder is Npr Foundation, giving 26.2× the national rate to large arts and culture organizations.
The largest non-DAF funder is The Andrew W Mellon Foundation, at $193M.
The large arts and culture organization drawing the most is Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, at $450M.

Funders most focused on large 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.

Npr Foundation26.2×$79M · 100% of its giving Pbs Foundation25.8×$58M · 100% of its giving Equal Justice Initiative25.6×$50M · 100% of its giving Saint Louis Symphony Endowment Trust25.3×$39M · 100% of its giving Dallas Symphony Foundation25×$33M · 100% of its giving American Public Media Group24.9×$32M · 100% of its giving Music Center Foundation24.9×$42M · 98% of its giving William S Paley Foundation Inc24.9×$49M · 97% of its giving

Largest funders by dollars

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

1The Andrew W Mellon Foundation$193M 2Academy Foundation$124M 3John D and Catherine T Macarthur$123M 4Dunard Fund USA Ltd$117M 5Anne Ray Foundation$108M 6The Bloomberg Family Foundation Inc$107M 7Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego$80M 8Npr Foundation$79M

Large arts and culture organizations that draw the most

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

742 other large arts and culture organizations$9.2B

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art$450M

Questions and answers

How do I find funders for a large arts and culture nonprofit?: Start with the funders most focused on large arts and culture organizations, currently Npr Foundation, Pbs Foundation, Equal Justice Initiative. 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 large organization here?: Size is the organization's median total revenue across its filings: large ($10M and up). Cause is its NTEE classification in the IRS Business Master File.
How much grant money goes to large arts and culture organizations?: $11.2B reached 752 large arts and culture organizations from 15,035 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 regranting layer

51% of grant dollars pass through an intermediary

The DAF merry-go-round

$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds

Strange bedfellows

the named clusters of US funding

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; cause is the recipient's NTEE classification in the IRS Business Master File. 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.