Massachusetts · Nonprofit
BRATTLE FILM FOUNDATION INC
BRATTLE FILM FOUNDATION INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $438,460 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($229,335). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 85% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.4M
- Funders on record
- 19
- Grants received
- $438k
- Net assets
- $137k
What Brattle Film Foundation Inc does
Mission
The organization's mission is to celebrate film as a popular and fine art form with cultural and historical importance that excites, educates, and inspires community. As the premier destination for repertory film in greater boston, the brattle film foundation uses an international view of cinema to: enhance the movie-going experience through curated programming, community building, education, and the shared large-screen experience; recognize film as both popular and fine art with important cultural and historic value; show a diverse range of films that cannot and will not be shown anywhere else; ensure cinema is respected, viewed, and recognized alongside other great works of art; and enrich our audiences understanding of cinema through diverse film programming, education, and information in the theater and online.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
The brattle's tradition of repertory film programming dates back to its inception in the 1950s. The organization has the following annual events: -bugs bunny film festival during february school vacation week -new years day marx brothers marathon -oscar party -trailer treats, a summer celebration -valentines day screenings of casablanca at a time when art houses and independent theatres continue to be consumed by large conglomerates, the brattle theatre has remained successful and true to its roots as a venue to see innovative and essential films. Starting with the programming of cy harvey and bryant halliday in 1953, the brattle has been the unofficial film school for boston-area residents, showing everything from casablanca to breaking the waves, the works of buster keaton to wong kar-wai. Over the years, the brattles diverse programming has brought many films to view that might otherwise have been forgotten or missed.
$1,019,600 spent$644,678 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,019,600.
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 $517k to $859k (+66%).
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 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 25% · 2021 57% · 2022 7% · 2023 16% · 2024 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
35% of BRATTLE FILM FOUNDATION 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. 3 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 10 funders, grant income rose $11k → $43k.
8 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 85% 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 BRATTLE FILM 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
BRATTLE FILM FOUNDATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 52% of grant income and the top three 79%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
87% 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 BRATTLE FILM FOUNDATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 55% · 2018 88% · 2019 63% · 2020 56% · 2021 37% · 2022 57% · 2023 43% — 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
60% of BRATTLE FILM FOUNDATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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
85% of BRATTLE FILM FOUNDATION INC'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 $64k that is directly attributable, 66% of it comes from funders outside Massachusetts, across 6 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $374k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
BRATTLE FILM FOUNDATION INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding BRATTLE FILM FOUNDATION INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $300k on record — $10k federal, $290k state.
- National Endowment for the Arts$10k
- (PP) STATE AID/POL SUB$290k
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 BRATTLE FILM 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
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
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 BRATTLE FILM 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.
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 BRATTLE FILM FOUNDATION INC?
- BRATTLE FILM FOUNDATION INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $438,460 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($229,335). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 85% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does BRATTLE FILM FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $438,460 in grants to BRATTLE FILM FOUNDATION INC, 11 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BRATTLE FILM FOUNDATION INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $229,335 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BRATTLE FILM 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 Brattle Film →
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 19 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