California · Nonprofit
Clay Studio
Clay Studio (California) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,877,925 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,815,500). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 98% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $830k
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $1.9M
- Net assets
- $612k
What Clay Studio does
Mission
Provide clay art facilities, classes and mentoring to the public.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
In 2024, Clay Studio dba Maker House provided ceramics facilities and kiln firings to artists, aspiring artists, and hobbyists in the local community. Across six class terms, it served an average of 138 students in multi-week classes, with additional students participating in workshops and single-day classes. Offerings included outreach to the visually impaired through haptic throwing classes and low-cost events where community members, including children, could try wheel-thrown pottery.The Emerging Artist Program supported three artists at no cost during summer 2024, offering a three-month studio membership, a free 8-week class, critiques, and mentorship. This gave them space and guidance to refine their practice and explore new ideas. Maker House also hosted multiple interns, providing training in kiln operation, glaze development, and related techniques.Several visiting artists participated in residencies and gallery shows, gaining access to unique 3D clay and plastic printing equipment. Guests included Amanda Salov, Timea Tihanyi, Adams Puryear, Richard Notkin, Vince Palacios, Virginia San Fratello, Michelle Griffoul, and Joey Watson. Exhibitions included the Clay National, a…
$1,129,824 spent$776,334 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,129,824.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $624k to $1.2M (+90%).
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: 2020 3% · 2021 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Chief executive
Matt Mitros
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 4 funders, grant income rose $500k → $621k.
4 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 98% 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 Clay Studio’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
Clay Studio leans on a few funders — its largest provides 97% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
98% 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 Clay Studio.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 97% — 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
98% of Clay Studio'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 $45k that is directly attributable, 99% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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.
Organizations like Clay Studio
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
83% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
68%
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 Clay Studio: 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 Clay Studio?
- Clay Studio (California) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,877,925 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,815,500). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 98% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Clay Studio have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $1,877,925 in grants to Clay Studio, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Clay Studio?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $1,815,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Clay Studio 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 Clay Studio →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2019–2024), 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