California · Nonprofit
CounterPulse
CounterPulse (California) receives grants from 41 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,868,231 to it, the largest being THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION ($1,550,000). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.3M
- Funders on record
- 41
- Grants received
- $3.9M
- Net assets
- $5.9M
What CounterPulse does
Mission
exchange of art and ideas, catalyzing transformation in our communities and our society. We work towards a world that celebrates diversity of race, class, cultural heritage, artistic expression, ability, gender identity & sexual orientation.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Performances: CounterPulse presents an ongoing curated platform of Performances that are a part of our biennial festival, co-produced with independent producers, and/or commissioned through residencies. The CounterPulse Festival is presented every other year on odd years and focused on national and international presentations. Co-productions partner directly with artists and small companies on the production and presentation of 20-35 presentations each year. Commissioning residencies nurtures artistic development through a residency experience that combines financial support, artistic freedom, extensive rehearsal space, and structured community feedback sessions.
$375,678 spent$103,508 earned by the program44% of program spendingHouse Artists Program: The House Artists Program supports artists and companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area by offering a suite of financial, outreach, and facilities services. This comprehensive program serves as a nesting place and launching pad for artists. Robust fiscal oversight is at the core of the program to provide the solid foundation on which to build creative work.
$305,434 spent$25,147 earned by the program36% of program spendingPublic Arts and other: Public Arts is focused on producing and presenting work outside of the CounterPulse facility in the public spaces of our neighborhood and city at large. This program's primary aim is to keep what is beautiful about the Tenderloin thriving: a neighborhood that is diverse, expressive, and resilient. We predominantly work in the Tenderloin neighborhood to provide opportunities for residents, workers and visitors to engage in safe, hospitable, and creative activities and share their stories.
$178,972 spent$40,680 earned by the program21% of program spendingRental Exchange: Throughout the year, CounterPulse provides highly subsidized rehearsal and performance space to over 2,000 artists. All artists who rent the space receive a free publicity package of technical assistance and comprehensive guidance in the art of self-production. CounterPulse keeps its doors open over 100 hours each week, with a typical day beginning at 9 a.m. for rehearsals, continuing with afternoon classes or workshops, and closing at 11 p.m. with a lively post-show discussion following an evening performance.
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $860,084.
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.
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 $4.9M to $6.6M (+35%).
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 28% · 2018 14% · 2019 29% · 2020 28% · 2021 39% · 2022 17% · 2023 34% · 2024 55% · 2025 14%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 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
Julie Phelps
Art & Exec Dir
Board chair
Victor Cordon
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 8 funders to 15 funders, grant income rose $149k → $298k.
10 of 41 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 10% 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 CounterPulse’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 41 funders by total. 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
CounterPulse leans on a few funders — its largest provides 40% of grant income and the top three 64%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 60% · 2018 65% · 2019 70% · 2020 50% · 2021 43% · 2022 31% · 2023 35% — 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
33% of CounterPulse's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 54% 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
95% of CounterPulse's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $403k 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.
Government funding CounterPulse receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $135k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$135k
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 CounterPulse
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
65% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
73%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- CAST 80 Turk LLC · partnership
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CounterPulse: 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 CounterPulse?
- CounterPulse (California) receives grants from 41 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,868,231 to it, the largest being THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION ($1,550,000). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CounterPulse have?
- IRS filings report 41 organizations giving $3,868,231 in grants to CounterPulse, 22 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CounterPulse?
- THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,550,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CounterPulse 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 CounterPulse →
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 41 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