California · Nonprofit
CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY INC
CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY INC (California) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,148,651 to it, the largest being MARIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($6,581,513). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 84% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $591k
- Funders on record
- 29
- Grants received
- $10M
- Net assets
- $888k
What California Jazz Conservatory Inc does
Mission
Founded in 1997, the jazzschool community music school in downtown berkeley is dedicated to fostering the development of the aspiring jazz musician of all ages and levels, and builds audiences and connects communities to sustain the jazz art form. The school's adult and youth community education programs include classes and ensembles, workshops, summer camps, in-school clinics, free public programs, a concert series, and performances in the community.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2025 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
Cjc degree program - closed at the end of 2024.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Jcms program and tuition program- the purpose was to further students knowledge & performance of jazz. This was a 39-week program which included weekly sessions and three weeks of camps. 1,100 students participated.
$1,191,658 spent$640,758 earned by the program97% of program spendingConcerts
$34,560 spent$18,284 earned by the program3% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,226,218.
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 2024 to 2025, from $5.0M to $2.6M (−47%).
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 0% · 2018 8% · 2019 5% · 2020 17% · 2021 26% · 2022 17% · 2023 1% · 2024 1% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
192% of CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 9 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
Lisa Mezzacappa
Executive director (start 12/5/25)
Board chair
Gordon Brooks
Chairperson
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 14 funders, grant income fell $1.0M → $441k.
13 of 29 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 84% 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 CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY 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
CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 65% of grant income and the top three 78%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
84% 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 CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 38% · 2018 80% · 2019 43% · 2020 88% · 2021 40% · 2022 58% · 2023 45% — growing more concentrated.
“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
52% of CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 72% 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
84% of CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY 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 $1.6M that is directly attributable, 73% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $8.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY INC's revenue fell 85% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 12,262 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Government funding CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $678k on record.
- Department of Education$678k
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 CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
62% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
79%
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 CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY 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 CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY INC?
- CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY INC (California) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,148,651 to it, the largest being MARIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($6,581,513). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 84% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY INC have?
- IRS filings report 29 organizations giving $10,148,651 in grants to CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY INC, 21 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY INC?
- MARIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $6,581,513 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY INC 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 California Jazz Conservatory →
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 29 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