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Massachusetts · Nonprofit

BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION INC

BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $892,453 to it, the largest being THE MUGAR FOUNDATION ($522,453). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$2.4M
Funders on record
4
Grants received
$892k
Net assets
$-3166977
2/4 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 72%
01What it does

What Boston 4 Celebrations Foundation Inc does

Mission

To provide for public celebration, concert, and fireworks on july 4th in boston, viewed by thousands in person and through the media.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. The boston 4 celebrations returned to the charles river esplanade on july 4, 2025. Keith lockhart led the boston pops esplanade orchestra in the organization's joyous celebration of the country's independence at the hatch shell. Throughout the afternoon, the crowd at the esplanade swelled. An estimated 400,000 people enjoyed the concert. In 2025, keith lockhart marked his 30th year as the boston pops conductor. The boston pops esplanade orchestra was joined by headliners leeann rimes and leslie odom jr, boston's own bell biv devoe, the boston children's chorus, and the u.s. Army field band and chorus. The u.s. Army chorus sang the "star spangled banner" as well as a "salute to our armed forces." (continued in schedule o)the concert came to a conclusion with a performance of tchaikovsky's 1812 overture with live cannons followed by a half hour fireworks display that required a team of 20 people to design, engineer, load in 4,000 fireworks shells that lit up the sky.

    $3,584,362 spent$126,770 earned by the program
    100% of program spending

  2. Other program services, not described on the e-filed return.

    $0 spent
    0% of program spending

The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,584,362.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20182018 Revenue 100 ($151k) Expenses 100 ($2.8M) Net assets 100 ($876k)2019 Revenue 281 ($425k) Expenses 112 ($3.1M) Net assets -211 ($-1845325)2020 Revenue 2253 ($3.4M) Expenses 10 ($282k) Net assets 147 ($1.3M)2021 Revenue 117 ($178k) Expenses 65 ($1.8M) Net assets -43 ($-375377)2022 Revenue 1123 ($1.7M) Expenses 106 ($3.0M) Net assets -188 ($-1650333)2023 Revenue 1578 ($2.4M) Expenses 115 ($3.2M) Net assets -286 ($-2508330)2024 Revenue 1595 ($2.4M) Expenses 109 ($3.1M) Net assets -362 ($-3166977)
2018201920202021202220232024
Revenue (1595)Expenses (109)Net assets (-362)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2019 to 2020, from $564k to $3.5M (+517%).

$2.3M
$564k
$3.5M
$1.9M
$756k
$489k
$1.2M
2018201920202021202220232024
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2018 50% · 2019 12% · 2023 10% · 2024 10%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

100% of BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 5,377 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.

−$2.7M
’18
−$2.7M
’19
$3.1M
’20
−$1.7M
’21
−$1.3M
’22
−$858k
’23
−$659k
’24
1.7
months of
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.

2018201920202021202220232024
Listed7444756
Joined·+0+0+0+5+1+3
No longer listed·300232
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2022: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $100k → $99k.

Funder
'17
'18
'19
'20
'22
'24*
'25*
total
funders
1
1
1
1
1
4
1

2 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 30% 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 BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION 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

BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 59% of grant income and the top three 98%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

30% 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 BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION INC.

59%
largest funder
98%
top three
~2
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2022 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

84% of BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION INC's grant income comes from Massachusetts funders.

MA
OR

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’22
Massachusetts out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $270k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION INC has grown faster than three-quarters of the 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−27% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve1.7mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)59% · top quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Government funding BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION INC receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $875k on record.

State$875k
19
20
23
24
25
Top programs
  • (PP) STATE AID/POL SUB$875k

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 BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION 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

The Boston Landmarks Orchestra Inc82%Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra Inc78%Longwood Symphony Orchestra Inc77%Cantata Singers Inc77%Rockport Music Inc77%The Wang Center for the Performing Arts Inc77%Cultural Alliance of Medfield Dba Bellforge Arts Center76%Commonwealth Lyric Theater Inc76%

Nationally

The Boston Landmarks Orchestra Inc82%Brevard Symphony Orchestra Inc79%Minnesota Orchestral Association78%Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra Inc78%Spirit of the Fourth Inc78%Longwood Symphony Orchestra Inc77%Grant Park Orchestral Association77%Cantata Singers Inc77%
05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

95% of spending goes to programs.

Program 95%Management 5%Fundraising 0%

Governance

3
board members
0%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

MA

Part of a family of 3 related entities

  • Boston Symphony Orchestra Inc · exempt
  • 263 Ha Limited Partnership · partnership
  • 263 Realty Corporation · corp_trust

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION 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.

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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 BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION INC?
BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $892,453 to it, the largest being THE MUGAR FOUNDATION ($522,453). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION INC have?
IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $892,453 in grants to BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION INC, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION INC?
THE MUGAR FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $522,453 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like BOSTON 4 CELEBRATIONS FOUNDATION 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 Boston 4 Celebrations →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2018–2024), and the filings of 4 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