Skip to content
Arts Council Santa Cruz County at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Arts Council Santa Cruz County

The organization's mission is to generate creativity, vibrancy, and connection within santa cruz county; to fund and support artists in the community, arts education and effective community collaborations in the arts.

$249k
Granted FY2025still arriving
9
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$1.1MHuman Services$98kRecreation & Sports$43kEnvironment$5k
02FY2025 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 9 grants below total $72,050, the rows itemized in this filing. The $248,692 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $176,642 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k8 grants · $57k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $15k
$7,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$3.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE 418 PROJECT$14,750
FRACTURED ATLAS$8,500
EL SISTEMA$7,800
WATSONVILLE FILM FESTIVAL$7,000
WATSONVILLE TAIKO GROUP$7,000
SENDEROS$7,000
TANNERY WORLD DANCE$7,000
CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC$7,000
ARTE DEL CORAZON$6,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%EL SISTEMA: $10k → 13%EL SISTEMA: $10k → 13%EL SISTEMA: $10k → 13%ESPERANZA DEL VALLE: $10k → 13%ESPERANZA DEL VALLE: $10k → 13%ESPERANZA DEL VALLE: $10k → 13%ACTIVITIES 4 ALL: $11k → 13%ACTIVITIES 4 ALL: $11k → 13%ACTIVITIES 4 ALL: $10k → 13%ACTIVITIES 4 ALL: $10k → 13%WHITE HAWK INDIAN COUNCIL: $11k → 13%WHITE HAWK INDIAN COUNCIL: $10k → 13%WHITE HAWK INDIAN COUNCIL: $10k → 13%WHITE HAWK INDIAN COUNCIL: $10k → 13%White Hawk Indian Council: $10k → 13%SANTA CRUZ SHAKESPEARE: $20k → 13%SANTA CRUZ MUSEUM OF ART & HISTORY: $20k → 13%Kuumbwa Jazz Center: $16k → 13%KUUMBWA JAZZ CENTER: $16k → 13%THE 418 PROJECT: $15k → 13%SANTA CRUZ SHAKESPEARE: $13k → 13%SANTA CRUZ COUNTY SYMPHONY: $13k → 13%CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY: $13k → 13%MUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORY: $13k → 13%Motion Pacific: $12k → 13%SANTA CRUZ SHAKESPEARE: $12k → 13%KUUMBWA JAZZ CENTER: $11k → 13%Kuumbwa Jazz Center: $11k → 13%Kuumbwa Jazz Center: $11k → 13%KUUMBWA JAZZ CENTER: $11k → 13%Santa Cruz Symphony: $11k → 13%Shakespeare Santa Cruz: $11k → 13%Santa Cruz Arts League: $10k → 13%Santa Cruz Shakespeare: $10k → 13%CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC: $10k → 13%Cabrillo Festival Music: $10k → 13%Museum of Art & History: $10k → 13%SANTA CRUZ SYMPHONY: $10k → 13%Museum of Art & History: $10k → 13%Santa Cruz Co Symphony: $10k → 13%SANTA CRUZ MUSEUM OF ART & HISTORY: $10k → 13%Cabrillo Fest Contemp Music: $10k → 13%CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC: $10k → 13%Santa Cruz Symphony: $10k → 13%Cabrillo Fest Contemp Music: $10k → 13%SANTA CRUZ SYMPHONY: $10k → 13%SANTA CRUZ ART LEAGUE: $10k → 13%SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAIN ART CENTER: $11k → 13%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.1M · 29 repeat orgs$133k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +39% since the first grant, against -6% for those funded once.

29 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 21 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

29
6

Total granted

$1.1M
$133k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
-6%

Still filing today

83%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureCrime & LegalRecreation & SportsEnvironmentOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • CF
    CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $106k · revenue +82%
  • KJ
    Kuumbwa Jazz Society
    6× · 2017–2022 · $76k · revenue +14%
  • SC
    SANTA CRUZ COUNTY SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION
    6× · 2017–2022 · $64k · revenue +41%

Funded once

  • MN
    MISCELLANEOUS NOT MORE THAN 5000
    one grant, 2017 · $98k
  • RO
    REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
    one grant, 2018 · $11k
  • RE
    Royal Eagle Bear Productions
    one grant, 2024 · $7k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
San Jose Chamber Orchestra

The mission of the San Jose Chamber Orchestra (SJCO) is to share exciting, though-provoking, and vibrant Music by contemporary and time-honored composers reflecting the cultural diversity of our everchanging community, and to support and…

Unclassified
2
San Lorenzo Valley Mountain Community Theater
Arts & Culture
3
The California Theatre of Santa Rosa

To champion the performing arts in Santa Rosa for all. To connect people with one another and with art that can enrich their lives. To embrace people from all backgrounds. To provide exceptional service to our resident companies and to…

Arts & Culture
4
Santa Clara Ballet Association

Stimulate and promote interest in ballet, provide high quality ballet performances at a reasonable cost to general public, while providing opportunities to local dancers, and enhancing cultural awareness and diversity in the South…

Arts & Culture
5
San Jose Chamber Music Society

To present chamber music concerts in San Jose performed by top ensembles from the Bay Area, across America, and around the world. To enrich our audience experience through post-concert Q&As, program notes, and meet-the-composer…

—
6
Santa Clara Valley Performing Arts Association

Maintain chamber orchestra and operatic company for the presentation of symphonic music and opera

Arts & Culture
7
Occidental Center for the Arts

Occidental Center for the Arts exists to provide a welcoming and accessible venue for the performing and visual arts in Sonoma County California for local regional national and international artists. our mission is to enrich our community…

Arts & Culture
8
San Francisco Basque Folkloric Groups
Arts & Culture
9
Symphony of the Vines

The presentation of symphonic and chamber music

Arts & Culture
10
San Bernardino Valley Concert Association
—
11
Constella Arts

Constella Arts produces performances, educational presentations and digital content, along the way changing how people perceive classical music and the performing arts.

—
12
Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra

The orchestra's mission is to provide cultural enrichment, education and entertainment to the community through presenting professional quality orchestral, chamber and solo performances at an affordable price; provide opportunities for…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Motion Pacific Dance Inc; the most unlike its peers is Activities 4 All. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

28 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 28 of the 35 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/28
Grantees still filing
17/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Kuumbwa Jazz Society: $76,000 · Arts & CultureKuumbwa Jazz SocietySANTA CRUZ COUNTY SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $64,000 · Arts & CultureSANTA CRUZ COUNTY SYMPHONY ASSOCIATIONSHAKESPEARE PLAY ON SANTA CRUZ SHAKESPEARE: $62,625 · Arts & CultureSHAKESPEARE PLAY ON SANTA CRUZ SHAKESPEARESANTA CRUZ ART LEAGUE INC: $57,480 · Arts & CultureSANTA CRUZ ART LEAGUE INCEL SISTEMA SANTA CRUZ: $56,900 · Arts & CultureEL SISTEMA SANTA CRUZMUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORY AT THE MCPHERSON CENTER: $53,000 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORY AT THE MCPHERSON CENTERWATSONVILLE FILM FESTIVAL: $51,000 · Arts & CultureWATSONVILLE FILM FESTIVALTANNERY WORLD DANCE & CULTURAL CENTER: $48,200 · Arts & CultureTANNERY WORLD DANCE & CULTURAL CENTEREsperanza Del Valle Inc: $45,000 · Arts & CultureEsperanza Del Valle IncSENDEROS: $35,000 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF OLYMPIA STATION INC DBA TANDY BEAL & COMPANY: $33,750 · Arts & CultureJEWEL THEATRE COMPANY: $33,500 · Arts & Culture+7 more: $108,200 · Arts & Culture+7 moreCABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC: $105,750 · OtherCABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSICMISCELLANEOUS NOT MORE THAN 5000: $98,428 · OtherMISCELLANEOUS NOT MORE THAN 5000WHITE HAWK INDIAN COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN: $56,600 · OtherWHITE HAWK INDIAN COUNCIL FOR CHILDRENMotion Pacific: $56,400 · OtherMotion PacificPAJARO VALLEY ARTS COUNCIL: $45,625 · OtherPAJARO VALLEY ARTS COUNCILARTE DEL CORAZON INC: $18,000 · Other+7 more: $69,250 · Other+7 moreACTIVITIES 4 ALL: $42,500 · Recreation & SportsWILLIAM JAMES ASSOCIATION: $22,200 · Crime & LegalCOASTAL WATERSHED COUNCIL: $5,250 · Environment
Arts & Culture$724,655Other$450,053Recreation & Sports$42,500Crime & Legal$22,200Environment$5,250

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC: $105,750 over 9y, 1.5% of budgetKuumbwa Jazz Society: $76,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetSANTA CRUZ COUNTY SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $64,000 over 6y, 2.0% of budgetSHAKESPEARE PLAY ON SANTA CRUZ SHAKESPEARE: $62,625 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetSANTA CRUZ ART LEAGUE INC: $57,480 over 8y, 7.4% of budgetEL SISTEMA SANTA CRUZ: $56,900 over 7y, 2.3% of budgetMUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORY AT THE MCPHERSON CENTER: $53,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetWATSONVILLE FILM FESTIVAL: $51,000 over 6y, 6.5% of budgetTANNERY WORLD DANCE & CULTURAL CENTER: $48,200 over 7y, 1.8% of budgetPAJARO VALLEY ARTS COUNCIL: $45,625 over 6y, 3.9% of budgetEsperanza Del Valle Inc: $45,000 over 5y, 5.4% of budgetSENDEROS: $35,000 over 5y, 2.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF OLYMPIA STATION INC DBA TANDY BEAL & COMPANY: $33,750 over 5y, 5.7% of budgetJEWEL THEATRE COMPANY: $33,500 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetTHE 418 PROJECT: $23,250 over 4y, 3.3% of budgetWILLIAM JAMES ASSOCIATION: $22,200 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetWatsonville Taiko Group A Nonprofit Corp: $21,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetSANTA CRUZ MOUNTAIN ART CENTER: $19,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetINDEXICAL INC: $16,500 over 3y, 5.5% of budgetSanta Cruz County Youth Symphony: $12,100 over 2y, 8.8% of budgetMOTION PACIFIC DANCE INC: $11,250 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetSanta Cruz Chamber Players: $10,500 over 2y, 11% of budgetSANTA CRUZ BAROQUE FESTIVAL: $10,500 over 2y, 8.6% of budgetSanta Cruz County Actors Theatre Inc: $10,500 over 2y, 18% of budgetSANTA CRUZ BALLET THEATRE: $6,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetCOASTAL WATERSHED COUNCIL: $5,250 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetMUSEO EDUARDO CARRILLO: $5,100 over 1y, 8.1% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC ↗
  • Who funds Kuumbwa Jazz Society ↗
  • Who funds SANTA CRUZ COUNTY SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds SHAKESPEARE PLAY ON SANTA CRUZ SHAKESPEARE ↗
  • Who funds SANTA CRUZ ART LEAGUE INC ↗
  • Who funds EL SISTEMA SANTA CRUZ ↗
  • Who funds MUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORY AT THE MCPHERSON CENTER ↗
  • Who funds WATSONVILLE FILM FESTIVAL ↗
  • Who funds TANNERY WORLD DANCE & CULTURAL CENTER ↗
  • Who funds PAJARO VALLEY ARTS COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds Esperanza Del Valle Inc ↗
  • Who funds ACTIVITIES 4 ALL ↗
  • Who funds SENDEROS ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF OLYMPIA STATION INC DBA TANDY BEAL & COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds JEWEL THEATRE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds THE 418 PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds WILLIAM JAMES ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds Watsonville Taiko Group A Nonprofit Corp ↗
  • Who funds SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAIN ART CENTER ↗
  • Who funds INDEXICAL INC ↗
  • Who funds Santa Cruz County Youth Symphony ↗
  • Who funds MOTION PACIFIC DANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds Santa Cruz Chamber Players ↗
  • Who funds SANTA CRUZ BAROQUE FESTIVAL ↗
  • Who funds Santa Cruz County Actors Theatre Inc ↗
  • Who funds SANTA CRUZ BALLET THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds COASTAL WATERSHED COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds MUSEO EDUARDO CARRILLO ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Community Foundation …Monterey Peninsula Fo…The David and Lucile …The William & Flora H…Volunteer Centers of …Silicon Valley Commun…American Online Givin…Network for GoodDonor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Community Foundation Santa Cruz CountyCA46.3× affinity20 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation Santa Cruz County · Monterey Peninsula Foundation · The David and Lucile Packard Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · Volunteer Centers of Santa Cruz County · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Network for Good · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Arts Council Santa Cruz County funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Arts Council Santa Cruz County. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 35 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Arts Council Santa Cruz County’s filings →

    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 endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home