California · Nonprofit
AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION
AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 109 organizations whose IRS filings report $23,537,643 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($4,274,000). 76 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 72% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $16M
- Funders on record
- 109
- Grants received
- $24M
- Net assets
- $56M
What American Conservatory Theatre Foundation does
Mission
American Conservatory Theatre Foundation (a.c.t. Foundation) is an essential gathering place that brings artists and communities together to inspire and provoke through the creation of theater and through training and education.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
A.c.t. Foundation is nationally recognized for its groundbreaking productions of classical and contemporary playwriting, and celebrated actor training, education and community programs. The company produces challenging theater in the rich context of symposia, audience discussions and community interaction.
$17,374,448 spent$4,376,483 earned by the program85% of program spendingThe conservatory, education and community programs serve more than 15,000 individuals each year in schools, community centers and a.c.t. Facilities throughout the bay area. The conservatory provides lifelong and transformational learning to people of all ages, backgrounds and commitment to their artistry through live theater classes and actor training. Distinguished former students of the conservatory programs include danny glover, annette bening, denzel washington, benjamin bratt and anika noni rose. The education and community efforts reach students in schools and community centers through theater-based arts education programs.
$3,180,821 spentof which $112,099 as grants$994,391 earned by the program15% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $20,555,269.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 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 2020 to 2021, from $99M to $53M (−47%).
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: 2017 1% · 2018 2% · 2019 6% · 2020 2% · 2021 15% · 2022 47% · 2023 1% · 2024 2% · 2025 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
35% of AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 9 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
Jennifer Bielstein
Executive director
Board chair
Jeffrey S Minick
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 39 funders, grant income rose $1.6M → $2.0M.
22 of 109 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 72% 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 AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 109 funders by total. 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
AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 18% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
75% 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 AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 14% · 2018 38% · 2019 46% · 2020 17% · 2021 66% · 2022 17% · 2023 14% — broadly stable.
“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
42% of AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 70% 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
72% of AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $6.7M that is directly attributable, 56% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $17M arriving through sponsors registered in 13 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
AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION's revenue fell 22% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 550 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $451k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$330k
- Department of Education$121k
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 AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
50%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Act Market Street · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION: 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 AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION?
- AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 109 organizations whose IRS filings report $23,537,643 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($4,274,000). 76 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 72% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 109 organizations giving $23,537,643 in grants to AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION, 76 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION?
- VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM is the largest funder on record, with $4,274,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 2017–2025), and the filings of 109 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