Massachusetts · Nonprofit
ARTSBOSTON INC
ARTSBOSTON INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,354,045 to it, the largest being The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc ($359,400). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.0M
- Funders on record
- 11
- Grants received
- $1.4M
- Net assets
- $23k
What Artsboston Inc does
Mission
Artsboston connects people to and through the arts. We activate audience building and engagement tools, professional development networks and resources, and arts research to foster the growth of an equitable and inclusive arts community in greater boston, one that welcomes and represents everyone. We build community and advocate for the essential role of the arts sector in our civic, economic, and cultural life.artsboston leads dialogues and action to create a more inclusive, equitable, and diverse arts sector; develops new audiences and increases equity in arts participation; uses the power of arts and culture to help make greater boston a vibrant and welcoming place to live, work, and visit; and advances collaboration and advocacy to increase investment in arts and culture.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Ticketing: artsboston's bostix discount ticket program available both online and in-person at our two bostix ticket/information booths- makes it more affordable for boston residents and visitors to experience the joy, community, and fun of boston's arts and culture, while helping arts organizations build their audiences and revenue.
$285,349 spent$179,757 earned by the program37% of program spendingAdvertising: artsboston provides effective and affordable ways for arts organizations to promote their events to both tourists and residents. Listing in the artsboston calendar is free to all local cultural organizations. Our calendar is greater boston's most comprehensive digital compilation of performances, exhibit exhibitions, festivals, and free events. It has a wide reach through our tourism and civic parters who appreciate the access information required in all listings. Our affordable advertising reaches targeted audience segments, with out of home advertising at artsboston's ticket/information booths at faneuil hall and copley square and our email marketing and social media which connects with over 100,000 arts goers.
$118,701 spent$219,471 earned by the program16% of program spendingThe artsboston all access initiative provides a more welcoming experience for people with disabilities, with recent innovations to the artsboston calendar such as a search option that works with multiple accommodations and required access information from all arts organizations listing on the calendar. Artsboston provides arts organizations with ongoing training sessions and tip sheets on what specific access information is needed, how best to present it, and why full access information is essential, not an afterthought. The network for arts administrator of color/boston (naac boston), launched in 2016, provides platforms for connection and learning, fosters professional growth, and widens the leadership pipeline. With free membership open to all self-identifying bipoc arts administrators and artists in greater boston, naac boston has grown from 40 members at its launch to 700+ members in 2025. Resources include an online member directory and active list serve, member events, and a highly regarded cohort based mentorship and sponsorship program that connects early, mid-career, and established arts professionals. Artsboston also leads research to inform and advocate for the…
$359,446 spent$139,699 earned by the program47% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $763,496.
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 2017 to 2018, from $1.6M to $1.3M (−22%).
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 4% · 2018 4% · 2019 9% · 2020 19% · 2021 44% · 2022 23% · 2023 21% · 2024 10%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
26% of ARTSBOSTON INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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
Ms Catherine Peterson
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $57k → $297k.
4 of 11 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 17% 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 ARTSBOSTON 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
ARTSBOSTON INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 27% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 88% · 2018 56% · 2019 48% · 2020 50% · 2021 42% · 2022 47% · 2023 51% — diversifying over time.
“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
57% of ARTSBOSTON INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 73% 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
ARTSBOSTON INC draws 52% of its grant income from funders outside Massachusetts, across 5 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $235k 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
ARTSBOSTON INC's funding base is broadening — from 2 funders to 6 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding ARTSBOSTON INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.0M on record — $190k federal, $858k state.
- National Endowment for the Arts$190k
- (PP) STATE AID/POL SUB$681k
- (HH) CONSULTANT SVCS (TO DEPTS)$177k
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 ARTSBOSTON 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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ARTSBOSTON 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.
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 ARTSBOSTON INC?
- ARTSBOSTON INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,354,045 to it, the largest being The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc ($359,400). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does ARTSBOSTON INC have?
- IRS filings report 11 organizations giving $1,354,045 in grants to ARTSBOSTON INC, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ARTSBOSTON INC?
- The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $359,400 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ARTSBOSTON INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 Artsboston →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 11 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