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New York · Nonprofit

540WMAIN INC

540WMAIN INC (New York) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $377,231 to it, the largest being ESL CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($166,666). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2022
$229k
Funders on record
14
Grants received
$377k
Net assets
$-47826
2/14 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 69%
01What it does

What 540wmain Inc does

Mission

To provide programming rooted in social justice, with a dedication to neighborhood revitalization. We operate under the motto "education with our borders," meaning that our education is accessible to all and relevant to communities' lived experiences. Whether it be blog posts, virtual classes, or consulting, all of our work centers around critical race theory and practices.

As stated on its FY2022 Form 990.

Programs

  1. We have taught over 600 individuals in antiracism classes in 2022, including 34 classes; topics taught include implicit bias, environmental justice, gentrification, and antiracism practice. Additionally, 28 articles were written and posted on our online learning platform. All of our programming runs on a gift economy structure, meaning that we offer flexible pay what you choose options for all learning. Additionally, all of our classes and events include ASL interpreting and captioning.

    $253,225 spent$22,371 earned by the program
    100% of program spending
  2. Other program services, not described on the e-filed return.

    $0 spent
    0% of program spending

The 2 programs described on its FY2022 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $253,225.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20202020 Revenue 100 ($99k) Expenses 100 ($61k) Net assets 100 ($35k)2021 Revenue 135 ($133k) Expenses 243 ($149k) Net assets 54 ($19k)2022 Revenue 232 ($229k) Expenses 482 ($296k) Net assets -138 ($-47826)
202020212022
Revenue (232)Expenses (482)Net assets (-138)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $28k to $2k (−94%).

$44k
$28k
$2k
202020212022
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2020
2021
2022
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

90% of 540WMAIN INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 19,547 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 3 reported years ran a deficit.

$37k
’20
−$16k
’21
−$67k
’22
0.1
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

Chief executive

Calvin Eaton

Executive Director/Treasurer

Board chair

Austin Retzlaff

Chair

As listed on its FY2022 Form 990.

03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2020 → 2023: the base narrowed from 6 funders to 2 funders, grant income rose $63k → $125k.

3 of 14 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 33% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

From the IRS filings of 540WMAIN INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

540WMAIN INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 44% of grant income and the top three 80%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

33% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund 540WMAIN INC.

44%
largest funder
80%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 32% · 2021 38% · 2022 58% · 2023 53% — growing more concentrated.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How long its funders stay

33% of 540WMAIN INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 14% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

95% of 540WMAIN INC's grant income comes from New York funders.

NY
CA
NC

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’20
’21
’22
’23
New York out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $125k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

540WMAIN INC has grown faster than three-quarters of the 15,683 arts & culture nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−29% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve0.1mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)52% · top quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 15,683 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2022

Organizations like 540WMAIN INC

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In New York

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

86% of spending goes to programs.

Program 86%Management 12%Fundraising 3%

Governance

4
board members
75%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

NY

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for 540WMAIN INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

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Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds 540WMAIN INC?
540WMAIN INC (New York) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $377,231 to it, the largest being ESL CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($166,666). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does 540WMAIN INC have?
IRS filings report 14 organizations giving $377,231 in grants to 540WMAIN INC, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of 540WMAIN INC?
ESL CHARITABLE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $166,666 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like 540WMAIN INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

Play a game about who funds 540wmain →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2022 (financials across 2020–2022), and the filings of 14 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing