Minnesota · Nonprofit
CIRCUS OF THE STAR
CIRCUS OF THE STAR (Minnesota) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $514,399 to it, the largest being MIGHTYCAUSE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($169,364). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $4.1M
- Funders on record
- 18
- Grants received
- $514k
- Net assets
- $3.1M
What Circus of the Star does
Mission
A performing arts circus school dedicated to inspiring artistry and confidence.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Classes: circus juventas offers outstanding circus arts training to youth ages 2 to 22. Individual and collaborative skills are taught in a culture of respect, acceptance, and individuality with a focus on safety and creativity. Beginning, intermediate, and advanced level classes are offered year-round along with summer camps and workshops in a wide range of circus acts. Specialty classes are offered for students with disabilities and for adults training to be professionals in the circus arts. Training is provided by over 40 experienced and diverse circus professionals from around the world. In fy25, 1,430 individuals enrolled in over 1,000 class sessions at our facility alone.
$2,293,669 spentof which $272,000 as grants$2,327,480 earned by the program64% of program spendingPerformances: a key element of circus juventas' programming are the performance opportunities offered to all students. In a typical year, over 750 beginning/intermediate level students perform in a large-scale spring production with music, costuming, and presentation. The annual summer show is professional level with original sets, costumes, music, and staging, involving over 70 of our most advanced students and running over 3 weekends. Each winter, our intermediate/advanced students perform at our annual holiday show. Combined audiences for these shows generally top 24,000 attendees annually. In fy25, students in the spring celebration performances, summer show, and holiday show performed for nearly sold-out houses.
$1,253,899 spent$1,200,405 earned by the program35% of program spendingHosting and outside events: in a typical year, circus juventas conducts community outreach through performances under its big top and at community events. In fy25, these included community day, the blaze credit union annual meeting, circus night at running aces, winter carnival, the royalston square grand opening, visit saint paul at allianz field, and the minnesota orchestra gala. Circus juventas also provided complimentary tickets to outreach partners, including neighborhood house, saint paul parks and recreation, and other youth-serving charitable organizations.
$36,367 spent1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,583,935.
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 2021 to 2022, from $2.5M to $3.6M (+45%).
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 4% · 2018 3% · 2019 4% · 2020 4% · 2021 4% · 2022 11% · 2023 8% · 2024 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
13% of CIRCUS OF THE STAR’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. 2 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 3 funders to 9 funders, grant income rose $18k → $61k.
5 of 18 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 28% 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 OF THE STAR’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 OF THE STAR has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 33% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
65% 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 OF THE STAR.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 41% · 2018 73% · 2019 46% · 2020 57% · 2021 47% · 2022 28% · 2023 17% — 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
45% of CIRCUS OF THE STAR'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
53% of CIRCUS OF THE STAR's grant income comes from Minnesota funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $143k 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
CIRCUS OF THE STAR holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 1,928 youth development nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,928 youth development nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding CIRCUS OF THE STAR receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $265k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$265k
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 OF THE STAR
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 Minnesota
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
81%
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 CIRCUS OF THE STAR: 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 CIRCUS OF THE STAR?
- CIRCUS OF THE STAR (Minnesota) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $514,399 to it, the largest being MIGHTYCAUSE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($169,364). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CIRCUS OF THE STAR have?
- IRS filings report 18 organizations giving $514,399 in grants to CIRCUS OF THE STAR, 13 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CIRCUS OF THE STAR?
- MIGHTYCAUSE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $169,364 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CIRCUS OF THE STAR find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Minnesota. 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 of the Star →
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 18 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