Virginia · Nonprofit
CharacterWorks Inc
CharacterWorks Inc (Virginia) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $98,136 to it, the largest being THE JOSEPH M RUFFIN FOUNDATION ($56,300). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2026
- $1.3M
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $98k
- Net assets
- $544k
What CharacterWorks Inc does
Mission
CharacterWorks is an afterschool theater arts youth program for ages 4-19. We strive to build character in kids and adults by creating community through quality theater classes, camps, and by producing stage plays and musicals for the community at large.
As stated on its FY2026 Form 990.
Programs
Classes and Camps: CharacterWorks conducted theater arts classes during the school year and theater camps during the summer. The Organization conducted classes over the fall, winter and spring sessions with a combined total of 1151 students. Our summer camp musical theater program ran from June-August with 588 students.
$375,692 spent$557,763 earned by the program33% of program spendingMusical Productions: CharacterWorks produced 8 main stage broadway-style musicals this past season utilizing student actors and performed for a combined audience of 16,088 in a total of 46 performances.
$754,786 spent$551,218 earned by the program67% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,130,478.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 $275k to $531k (+93%).
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: 2021 15% · 2022 0% · 2023 0% · 2024 0% · 2025 10%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
13% of CharacterWorks Inc’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 6 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.
Board chair
Paul Peterson
Chairman
As listed on its FY2026 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $2k → $5k.
2 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 15% 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 CharacterWorks 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
CharacterWorks Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 57% of grant income and the top three 93%; 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: 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 65% · 2021 100% · 2022 97% · 2023 92% — 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.
Where its funders are
73% of CharacterWorks Inc's grant income comes from Virginia funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $14k 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.
Against its field
CharacterWorks Inc has grown faster than three-quarters of the 14 youth development nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 14 youth development nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2026
Organizations like CharacterWorks 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 Virginia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
86% 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 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CharacterWorks 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 CharacterWorks Inc?
- CharacterWorks Inc (Virginia) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $98,136 to it, the largest being THE JOSEPH M RUFFIN FOUNDATION ($56,300). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CharacterWorks Inc have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $98,136 in grants to CharacterWorks Inc, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CharacterWorks Inc?
- THE JOSEPH M RUFFIN FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $56,300 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CharacterWorks Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. 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 CharacterWorks →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2026 (financials across 2021–2026), and the filings of 6 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