· Private foundation
Michele and Arnold Brustin Foundation
Its FY2021 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2021.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2021
- Under $10k6 grants · $11k
- $10k–50k3 grants · $41k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| OJAI MUSIC FESTIVAL | $15,000 |
| MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST | $13,700 |
| SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ART | $12,500 |
| MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER | $5,000 |
| OUR LADY OF GRACE CHURCH | $2,500 |
| CLUBBED THUMB INC | $1,000 |
| MONTECITO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION | $1,000 |
| SANTA BARBARA HISTORICAL MUSEUM | $500 |
| HEAL THE OCEAN | $500 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–21) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 90% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
10 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2021, 5 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2021, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- MAMUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST5× · 2017–2021 · $107k · revenue +18%
- OFOJAI FESTIVALS LTD4× · 2017–2021 · $45k · revenue +15%
- TITHE INDUSTRY PRODUCTIONS INC3× · 2017–2020 · $19k · revenue +18%
Funded once
- CFCANCER FOUNDATION OF SANTA BARBARAone grant, 2017 · $3k · revenue -8%
- SBSANTA BARBARA ITNL FILM FESTIVALone grant, 2020 · $3k
- MSMEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CTRone grant, 2019 · $2k
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.
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.
To bring high quality classical musicians from around the globe to the santa barbara area to perform orchestral, vocal, solo instrumental, and chamber concerts.
We believe opera is a uniquely compelling, entertaining and emotionally thrilling art form. our mission is to bring together growing audiences to experience opera's transformative power.
To transform the orchestral experience for artists and audiences by building a vibrant community dedicated to the creation and performance of profound, relevant and innovative music
Camerata Pacifica's mission is to affect positively how people experience live performances of classical music. The Organization will engage our audience intellectually and emotionally by presenting the finest performance of familiar and…
Choral Music Performances: California Bach Society is a 30-voice chamber choir known for finely wrought interpretations of Renaissance and Baroque music, often accompanied by leading period instrumentalists. Each season, the choir performs…
To provide a vibrant performing arts center that generates and promotes excellence in the performing arts and enhances the quality of life in the region by offering outstanding and diverse entertainment, including events of cultural and…
The Culver City Symphony Orchestra strives to enlighten and inspire the diverse citizenry of Culver City and the Los Angeles area through the presentation of orchestral music concerts, to present works of American composers, and to…
Entertain and engage our community through musical performance and education.
The general purpose of the organization is to promote chamber music concerts to the general public.
Slo rep strengthens theatre's cultural influence and enriches the central coast by producing professional theatre, nurturing artists and providing theatre education for children and adults.
How this is measured
10 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.
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 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 10 of the 20 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST ↗
- Who funds OJAI FESTIVALS LTD ↗
- Who funds THE INDUSTRY PRODUCTIONS INC ↗
- Who funds Clubbed Thumb Inc ↗
- Who funds OPERA SANTA BARBARA ↗
- Who funds CANCER FOUNDATION OF SANTA BARBARA ↗
- Who funds Montecito Community Foundation ↗
- Who funds SANTA BARBARA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION ↗
- Who funds HEAL THE OCEAN INC ↗
- Who funds SANTA BARBARA HISTORICAL MUSEUM ↗
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.
Open a dossier: Santa Barbara Foundation · Mosher Foundation · Ann Jackson Family Foundation · California Community Foundation · The Leslie S and Philip L Bernstein Family Fund · Elizabeth and John Moller Foundation · Schlinger Chrisman Foundation Northern Trust Company Trustee · Williams-Corbett Foundation · Www Foundation · Hutton Foundation Dba Hutton Parker Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · American Endowment Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Michele and Arnold Brustin Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Michele and Arnold Brustin Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
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