New York · Nonprofit
A BLADE OF GRASS FUND
A BLADE OF GRASS FUND (New York) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,934,761 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($1,650,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $503k
- Funders on record
- 8
- Grants received
- $1.9M
- Net assets
- $1.5M
What A Blade of Grass Fund does
Mission
A Blade of Grass Fund nurtures socially engaged art. We provide resources tailored to the needs of socially engaged artists. Rooted in co-creation and dialogue, our programs-ranging from funding to research-are designed to be flexible and adaptive to the evolving landscape.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
This year we continued three programs to support artists and creative practitioners throughout the country with resources including funding such as field funds, micro grants, and unrestricted fellowships. Through landscapes, our digital platform for collaboration and commissions, we worked with guests and partners to deepen the ecosystems of socially engaged art.
$561,136 spentof which $178,000 as grants100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $561,136.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $780k to $1.8M (+133%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2018 12% · 2019 5% · 2020 12% · 2021 77% · 2022 13%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
89% of A BLADE OF GRASS FUND’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
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
Lu Zhang
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 3 funders, grant income rose $45k → $931k.
4 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 4% 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 A BLADE OF GRASS FUND’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
A BLADE OF GRASS FUND leans on a few funders — its largest provides 85% of grant income and the top three 96%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 78% · 2019 55% · 2020 52% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 97% — 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
0% of A BLADE OF GRASS FUND's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 75% give in more than one year at all.
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
98% of A BLADE OF GRASS FUND's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $79k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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.
Against its field
A BLADE OF GRASS FUND's funding base is broadening — from 2 funders to 3 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Government funding A BLADE OF GRASS FUND receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $215k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$215k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like A BLADE OF GRASS FUND
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
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
22%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for A BLADE OF GRASS FUND: 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.
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 A BLADE OF GRASS FUND?
- A BLADE OF GRASS FUND (New York) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,934,761 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($1,650,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does A BLADE OF GRASS FUND have?
- IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $1,934,761 in grants to A BLADE OF GRASS FUND, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of A BLADE OF GRASS FUND?
- THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,650,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like A BLADE OF GRASS FUND 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.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2018–2025), and the filings of 8 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