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California · Nonprofit

China Digital Times Inc

China Digital Times Inc (California) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,016,147 to it, the largest being NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY ($7,135,878). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$1.7M
Funders on record
6
Grants received
$8.0M
Net assets
$2.0M
4/6 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 55%
01What it does

What China Digital Times Inc does

Mission

CDT is an independent, bilingual media organization that brings uncensored news and online voices from China to the world.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Program

  1. China Digital Times CDT is an independent, bilingual media organization that brings uncensored news and online voices from China to the world. CDT operates three websites, China Digital Times English, China Digital Times Chinese, and China Digital Space, which filter and aggregate news, research, and opinion about China and place it in a broader social and political context, while amplifying the voices of Chinese citizens through translation. We publish articles daily on our three websites.

    $1,070,636 spent$1,931 earned by the program
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,070,636.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($1.0M) Expenses 100 ($884k) Net assets 100 ($337k)2018 Revenue 112 ($1.1M) Expenses 120 ($1.1M) Net assets 100 ($337k)2019 Revenue 103 ($1.1M) Expenses 109 ($961k) Net assets 128 ($432k)2020 Revenue 137 ($1.4M) Expenses 131 ($1.2M) Net assets 200 ($672k)2021 Revenue 339 ($3.5M) Expenses 384 ($3.4M) Net assets 226 ($760k)2022 Revenue 374 ($3.8M) Expenses 393 ($3.5M) Net assets 332 ($1.1M)2023 Revenue 294 ($3.0M) Expenses 320 ($2.8M) Net assets 387 ($1.3M)2024 Revenue 222 ($2.3M) Expenses 215 ($1.9M) Net assets 502 ($1.7M)2025 Revenue 163 ($1.7M) Expenses 167 ($1.5M) Net assets 583 ($2.0M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (163)Expenses (167)Net assets (583)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 2021 to 2022, from $986k to $1.9M (+91%).

$337k
$346k
$432k
$865k
$986k
$1.9M
$1.8M
$2.2M
$2.4M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 100% · 2018 62% · 2019 90% · 2020 59% · 2021 92% · 2022 88% · 2023 98% · 2024 79% · 2025 88%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

98% of China Digital Times 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. 0 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$142k
’17
$86k
’18
$95k
’19
$252k
’20
$88k
’21
$359k
’22
$184k
’23
$378k
’24
$195k
’25
12
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.

Board chair

Brad Adams

Chairman

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed555544445
Joined·+0+0+2+0+0+1+0+1
No longer listed·00210100
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 3 funders, grant income rose $383k → $1.2M.

Funder
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
'23
'24*
'25*
total
Tebaldi Fundunclassified
$130k
funders
2
3
1
3
3
3
3
1
1

2 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 2% 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 China Digital Times 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

China Digital Times Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 89% 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

93% 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 China Digital Times Inc.

89%
largest funder
98%
top three
~1
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 89% · 2018 51% · 2019 100% · 2020 72% · 2021 89% · 2022 87% · 2023 87% — 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

China Digital Times Inc draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 3 states in all.

NY
DC
TX

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

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
California out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $150k 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

China Digital Times Inc holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.

Operating margin12% · above the median
Months of reserve11.9mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)6% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Organizations like China Digital Times 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

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

73% of spending goes to programs.

Program 73%Management 24%Fundraising 4%

Governance

5
board members
80%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

99%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

CA

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for China Digital Times 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 China Digital Times Inc?
China Digital Times Inc (California) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,016,147 to it, the largest being NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY ($7,135,878). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does China Digital Times Inc have?
IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $8,016,147 in grants to China Digital Times Inc, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of China Digital Times Inc?
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY is the largest funder on record, with $7,135,878 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like China Digital Times 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 China Digital Times →

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 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