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California · Nonprofit

CIRCUS CENTER

CIRCUS CENTER (California) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $972,763 to it, the largest being THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION ($350,207). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$2.1M
Funders on record
19
Grants received
$973k
Net assets
$-597553
8/19 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 12%
01What it does

What Circus Center does

Mission

To inspire passion for the circus arts through training, performance, and community engagement. In FY24, we provided 6,000 classes to 25,000+ trainees, produced 24 shows, and provided sustained enrichment activities to dozens of underserved youth.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. TRAINING: Circus Center offers classes for every level of ability in flying trapeze, acrobatics, aerial arts, contortion, juggling, and many other disciplines. We have training for all ages, from our recreational and pre-professional youth programs serving students as young as 6 years old, to our recreational adult classes and private lessons. In addition, we offer artist residencies; summer camp; corporate, youth, and group events; workshops; specialty intensives; and much more. Our world-renowned team of instructors have performed with the Nanjing Acrobatic Troupe, Moscow Circus, Cirque du Soleil, Pickle Family Circus, Circus Bella, Circus Smirkus, Teatro ZinZanni, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, and the Big Apple Circus.

    $1,287,453 spent$1,233,813 earned by the program
    81% of program spending
  2. PERFORMANCE: Circus Center produced a full season of in-person shows featuring over a hundred Circus Center professional and student circus artists in seven different performances. These shows employ dozens of circus, music, and variety artists annually. Collectively our performances serve thousands of audience members every year, all at accessible ticket prices.

    $127,156 spent$136,777 earned by the program
    8% of program spending
  3. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: Circus Center partners with schools and community organizations to offer circus arts activities to underserved young people. This year, we continued and grew our after-school program at a center for economically disadvantaged children. We also continued our regular series of community open houses to provide low-barrier introductions to the world of circus. And for those young people who get bit by the circus bug, we offer generous need-based financial assistance and other support for their participation in all of our on-site youth programming.

    $174,839 spent$13,678 earned by the program
    11% of program spending
  4. Other program services, not described on the e-filed return.

    $0 spent
    0% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,589,448.

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 ($1.7M) Expenses 100 ($1.8M) Net assets -370 ($-282397)2019 Revenue 110 ($1.9M) Expenses 102 ($1.8M) Net assets -269 ($-205175)2020 Revenue 97 ($1.6M) Expenses 90 ($1.6M) Net assets -223 ($-169926)2021 Revenue 86 ($1.5M) Expenses 68 ($1.2M) Net assets 100 ($76k)2022 Revenue 145 ($2.5M) Expenses 133 ($2.4M) Net assets 235 ($179k)2023 Revenue 151 ($2.6M) Expenses 149 ($2.6M) Net assets 132 ($101k)2024 Revenue 125 ($2.1M) Expenses 152 ($2.7M) Net assets -783 ($-597553)
2018201920202021202220232024
Revenue (125)Expenses (152)Net assets (-783)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 2020 to 2021, from $377k to $1.1M (+194%).

$331k
$276k
$377k
$1.1M
$423k
$735k
$291k
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 1% · 2021 20% · 2022 11% · 2023 18% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

22% of CIRCUS CENTER’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue 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. 3 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.

−$75k
’18
$59k
’19
$35k
’20
$246k
’21
$103k
’22
−$79k
’23
−$573k
’24
0.3
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
Listed121211108812
Joined·+2+3+0+1+0+4
No longer listed·241300
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base held at 6 funders, grant income fell $207k → $123k.

6 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 49% 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 CIRCUS CENTER’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

CIRCUS CENTER leans on a few funders — its largest provides 36% of grant income and the top three 73%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

49% 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 CIRCUS CENTER.

36%
largest funder
73%
top three
~5
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 48% · 2018 91% · 2019 78% · 2020 76% · 2021 38% · 2022 35% · 2023 41% — 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

29% of CIRCUS CENTER's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 42% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

96% of CIRCUS CENTER's grant income comes from California funders.

NY
CA
UT
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. $473k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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

CIRCUS CENTER's revenue grew 25% between 2018 and 2024.

Operating margin−27% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve0.3mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)4% · below the median

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

Government funding CIRCUS CENTER receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $10k on record.

Federal$10k
grants $10kcontracts $0
Top agencies
  • National Endowment for the Arts$10k

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 CIRCUS CENTER

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

74% of spending goes to programs.

Program 74%Management 18%Fundraising 8%

Governance

8
board members
100%
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 CIRCUS CENTER: 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 CIRCUS CENTER?
CIRCUS CENTER (California) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $972,763 to it, the largest being THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION ($350,207). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does CIRCUS CENTER have?
IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $972,763 in grants to CIRCUS CENTER, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of CIRCUS CENTER?
THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $350,207 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like CIRCUS CENTER 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 Circus Center →

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 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