Colorado · Nonprofit
Ascanio's Purse
Ascanio's Purse (Colorado) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $378,500 to it, the largest being ESMOND NISSIM FOUNDATION INC CO BOSWORTH GRAY & FULLER ESQ ($350,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $26k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $379k
- Net assets
- $231k
What Ascanio's Purse does
Mission
Ascanio's Purse provides funding for select concerts and recordings of the great french composer hector berlioz in addition to other great masterpieces as evidenced by our latest recording of handel's messiah.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Program
To provide funding for select concerts and recordings of the great french composer hector berlioz. A previous sponsored event was the first complete recording of berlioz's opera "benvenuto cellini" on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth in paris, france (december 2003). In 2017 we recorded "les troyens", taken from two live concerts in strasbourg, france and in 2019 we recorded a concert performance of the "requiem" ("grande messe des morts") in st. Paul's cathedral, london, on the 150th anniversary of berlioz's death as well as berlioz's "damnation de faust" in strasbourg. We also recorded berlioz's "romeo and juliette" in strasbourg in june of 2022. In addition, berlioz's "harold en italie"les nuits d'ete" were released in november 2022. To date we have won eight international awards, among them opera recording of the year from gramophone for "les troyens" as well as a number of others. In addition to the above Ascanio's Purse sponsored another great m
$151,679 spent100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $151,679.
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 $634k to $99k (−84%).
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.
50% of Ascanio's Purse’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (78% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 7 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
Robert E Sobel
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $3k → $500.
From the IRS filings of Ascanio's Purse’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
Ascanio's Purse leans on a few funders — its largest provides 92% of grant income and the top three 100%; 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: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 95% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 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
Ascanio's Purse draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Colorado, across 2 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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
Ascanio's Purse's revenue fell 92% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 10,713 arts & culture nonprofits under $100k, FY2025
Organizations like Ascanio's Purse
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 Colorado
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
23%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Ascanio's Purse: 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 Ascanio's Purse?
- Ascanio's Purse (Colorado) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $378,500 to it, the largest being ESMOND NISSIM FOUNDATION INC CO BOSWORTH GRAY & FULLER ESQ ($350,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Ascanio's Purse have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $378,500 in grants to Ascanio's Purse, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Ascanio's Purse?
- ESMOND NISSIM FOUNDATION INC CO BOSWORTH GRAY & FULLER ESQ is the largest funder on record, with $350,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Ascanio's Purse find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Colorado. 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 Ascanio's Purse →
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 3 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