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

Start with the funders already giving to arts and culture in California, currently Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc, National Philanthropic Trust, Academy Foundation. Then look at who funds the arts and culture organizations on this page that resemble yours, and add the national funders reaching into California from out of state.

How much grant money goes to arts and culture in California?

$11.6B reached 6,866 arts and culture organizations in California, from 11,100 funders. 54% came from funders also based in California.

How recent is this data?

It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the two years with complete coverage. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.

Funding · California · Arts and culture

Who funds arts and culture in California

Arts and culture funding in California is unusually spread out: no single organization draws even 12%, though Lucas Museum of Narrative Art leads, and the money reaches 6,866 groups.

$11.6B

granted

6,866

organizations

54%

from in-state

The short version

11,100 funders gave $11.6B to 6,866 arts and culture organizations in California across the FY2022 and FY2023 IRS filings.
54% of that came from funders also based in California; the rest reached in from out of state.
The largest funder of arts and culture in California is Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc, at $1.2B.
The arts and culture organization drawing the most is Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, at $1.2B.

Largest funders of arts and culture in California

The funders giving the most to arts and culture organizations in California, in-state and out. Pick one for its dossier.

1Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc$1.2B 2National Philanthropic Trust$720M 3Academy Foundation$653M 4Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund$608M 5Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences$455M 6Corporation for Public Broadcasting$410M 7Silicon Valley Community Foundation$297M 8The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation$238M 9Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego$233M 10American Endowment Foundation$190M

Arts and culture organizations in California that draw the most

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

6,856 other arts and culture organizations$8.0B

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art$1.2B Academy Foundation$528M

How to find arts and culture funders in California

1
Start with the funders already active in California
The funders giving the most to arts and culture in California are Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc, National Philanthropic Trust, Academy Foundation. A funder already writing arts and culture checks in your state is the warmest place to begin.
2
See who funds organizations like yours
Open the arts and culture organizations on this page that resemble yours in size or work, and look at who funds them. Shared funders are the strongest signal of fit.
3
Add the out-of-state funders reaching in
46% of arts and culture money in California comes from funders elsewhere, so national arts and culture funders are worth approaching even if they are not based in California.

Questions and answers

How do I find funders for a arts and culture nonprofit in California?: Start with the funders already giving to arts and culture in California, currently Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc, National Philanthropic Trust, Academy Foundation. Then look at who funds the arts and culture organizations on this page that resemble yours, and add the national funders reaching into California from out of state.
Who is the largest arts and culture funder in California?: Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc gives the most to arts and culture organizations in California, $1.2B across the 2022 and 2023 filings.
How much grant money goes to arts and culture in California?: $11.6B reached 6,866 arts and culture organizations in California, from 11,100 funders. 54% came from funders also based in California.
How recent is this data?: It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the two years with complete coverage. 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

State money flows

the interactive map of money crossing state lines

Giving abroad

which US foundations fund each country

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; location is the recipient's state on its most recent filing. Grant figures are read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file XML for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, among recipients resolved by EIN. Source: IRS Form 990 downloads.