Massachusetts · Nonprofit
CREATIVE ACTION INSTITUTE INC
CREATIVE ACTION INSTITUTE INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,615,667 to it, the largest being NEW ENGLAND BIOLABS FOUNDATION ($954,500). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $3.2M
- Funders on record
- 15
- Grants received
- $1.6M
- Net assets
- $4.1M
What Creative Action Institute Inc does
Mission
Creative action institute catalyzes community-driven solutions that advance gender equality and build a sustainable planet. Through our experiential trainings, convenings and coaching, we develop creative leaders, build networks and support grassroots advocacy globally.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Sauti ya dada (syd) is a two-year program that creates and strengthens systems of support, learning, leadership, and advocacy to help marginalized girls ages 13 - 19 in east africa complete their secondary school education and become leaders in their community. The program starts a new cohort each year.creative action institute works with community-based organions from kenya, rwanda, uganda and tanzania, selected through a competitive process. Cai undertakes substantial training and coaching to equip partner mentors and teachers with the knowledge and skills to effectively deliver the content and support the girls throughout the program.syd clubs- the distinctive curriculum, delivered weekly at the club meetings by the mentors, help build leadership, deepen their understanding of srhr and climate change, and gain advocacy skills to address those challenges. The clubs provide an opportunity for girls to coneect, and a safe space for them to discuss their challenges and plan projects to address them.eagls_ the east african girls' leadership summit, a platform for peer exchange and leadership development that annually convenes girls from kenya, rwanda, tanzania and uganda, is an…
The creative environmental leadership program equips leaders to leverage creative leadership, faciliatation, collaboration and advocacy strategies that incorporate arts and problem solving to build consensus in their communities around complex issues, develop inclusive solutions, and shift behaviors to support a more sustainable planet.the climate resilience program builds the capacity of leaders and communities to better understand, analyze, and respond to the impact of climate change on food security, gender equality, water availability, and health of humans and animals.creative advocacy practicums (caps) are a critical component of each of our programs: leaders apply new skills in their communitites to creatively bring about change.
Creative action institute undertakes numerous consulting opportunities that focus on gender equality and building a sustainable planet. Consulting work in 2025 included: developing a green and gender essentials a teacher training package for vvob with akf; designing and implementing community forums in newburyport to support the design of a peer clean-energy mentor program for elders.
Other program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$817,813 spent$253,567 earned by the program100% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $817,813.
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 2023 to 2024, from $1.4M to $4.2M (+206%).
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 9% · 2021 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
89% of CREATIVE ACTION INSTITUTE INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (63% 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.
Chief executive
Clare Dowd
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $65k → $260k.
4 of 15 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 9% 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 CREATIVE ACTION INSTITUTE 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
CREATIVE ACTION INSTITUTE INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 59% of grant income and the top three 74%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 60% · 2018 35% · 2019 66% · 2020 40% · 2021 62% · 2022 83% · 2023 80% — growing more concentrated.
“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
78% of CREATIVE ACTION INSTITUTE INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 73% 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
76% of CREATIVE ACTION INSTITUTE INC's grant income comes from Massachusetts funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $138k 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.
Against its field
CREATIVE ACTION INSTITUTE INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like CREATIVE ACTION INSTITUTE 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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
91% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
45%
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 CREATIVE ACTION INSTITUTE 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.
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 CREATIVE ACTION INSTITUTE INC?
- CREATIVE ACTION INSTITUTE INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,615,667 to it, the largest being NEW ENGLAND BIOLABS FOUNDATION ($954,500). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CREATIVE ACTION INSTITUTE INC have?
- IRS filings report 15 organizations giving $1,615,667 in grants to CREATIVE ACTION INSTITUTE INC, 11 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CREATIVE ACTION INSTITUTE INC?
- NEW ENGLAND BIOLABS FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $954,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CREATIVE ACTION INSTITUTE INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 Creative Action Institute →
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 15 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