California · Nonprofit
Arena Theater Association
Arena Theater Association (California) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $40,045 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MENDOCINO COUNTY ($22,100). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 71% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2026
- $296k
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $40k
- Net assets
- $581k
What Arena Theater Association does
Mission
The mission of the Arena Theater is to preserve the historic Arena Theater as a community resource for diverse entertainment, education and performing arts. See Schedule O for continuation of mission.
As stated on its FY2026 Form 990.
Programs
Arena Theater screens first-run feature films three days per week. Movies are shown on a big screen with high quality surround sound audio and digital projection. Tickets are priced affordably for our rural coastal community, and we offer a Frugal Fridays screening at a discount. In addition to our first-run movies, we offer a summer Cult Classic film series plus occasional Music on Film Nites and other special events such as community and holiday films. Film Club: Arena Theaters film club program is an October-April series of 2 films per month, half price for film club members. We had 76 film club members supporting this successful program, and guests are also welcome.
$226,998 spent$155,343 earned by the program100% of program spendingLive programming: Arena Theater produces and presents diverse live entertainment events each month, including music of various genres, theatrical productions, and community events.
Telecasts: Arena Theaters Metropolitan Opera Live in HD series is as successful as ever, with loyal season subscribers. The National Theater of London Live telecast series continues to be well-supported, and we also offer a popular Exhibition on Screen Series. Short Film Festival: Our 3rd annual Arena Theater Short Film Festival in 2025 was our best yet, with 3 days of short films, special reception events and over 20 filmmakers in attendance.
The 3 programs described on its FY2026 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $226,998.
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 2021 to 2022, from $526k to $633k (+20%).
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: 2021 17% · 2022 48%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
31% of Arena Theater Association’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 10 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base narrowed from 2 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $5k → $17.
3 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 71% 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 Arena Theater Association’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
Arena Theater Association leans on a few funders — its largest provides 55% of grant income and the top three 87%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 Arena Theater Association.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 53% · 2023 100% — 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.
Where its funders are
71% of Arena Theater Association'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 $12k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside California, across 2 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $28k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
Arena Theater Association holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 630 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 630 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2026
Organizations like Arena Theater Association
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
75% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
91%
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 Arena Theater Association: 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 Arena Theater Association?
- Arena Theater Association (California) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $40,045 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MENDOCINO COUNTY ($22,100). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 71% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Arena Theater Association have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $40,045 in grants to Arena Theater Association, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Arena Theater Association?
- COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MENDOCINO COUNTY is the largest funder on record, with $22,100 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Arena Theater Association 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.
Play a game about who funds Arena Theater Association →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2026 (financials across 2017–2026), and the filings of 5 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing