Massachusetts · Nonprofit
CULTURAL SURVIVAL INC
CULTURAL SURVIVAL INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 67 organizations whose IRS filings report $24,328,025 to it, the largest being WAVERLEY STREET FOUNDATION ($6,500,000). 43 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $10M
- Funders on record
- 67
- Grants received
- $24M
- Net assets
- $17M
What Cultural Survival Inc does
Mission
Cultural survival advocates for indigenous people's rights and supports indigenous communities' self-determination, cultures and political resilience, since 1972.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Special projects: grants to partner organizations working on natural resources issues.
$380,860 spentof which $235,650 as grants7% of program spendingAdvocacy: cultural survival has ecosoc consultative status with the united nations and uses multiple un treaty body mechanisms to advocacy for the rights of indigenous peoples. Cultural survival compiles andsubmits reports to the universal periodic review mechanism, participates actively in the united nations permanent forum on indigenous issues, the committee for the elimination of racial discrimination, the expertmechanism on the rights of indigenous peoples, and other treaty bodies. Cultural survival engages with the inter american commission on human rights and the inter american court on specific violations ofindigenous peoples rights, most notably in guatemala and panama.
$731,959 spentof which $44,387 as grants14% of program spendingCommunity media: cultural survival makes grants to small radio stations and other community media that broadcast in indigenous languages. Cultural survival offers training in how to maintain broadcast equipment.
$897,246 spentof which $608,059 as grants17% of program spendingKeepers of the earth: grants to indigenous communities for self managed projects in agriculture, language revitalization, drought mitigation, natural disasters, and other projects.
$691,855 spentof which $564,500 as grants13% of program spendingCapacity building: cultural survival organizes training workshops, community exchanges, and other activities to increase the capacity of indigenous communities. This includes fellowships to young individuals andgroups of youth working on community based projects.
$655,604 spentof which $85,000 as grants12% of program spendingThe cultural survival bazaars are a series of cultural festivals, organized by indigenous peoples' rights organization cultural survival, that provide indigenous artists and artisans, cooperatives, and their representatives from around the world the chance to sell their work directly to the public.each event features traditional and contemporary crafts, artwork, clothing, jewelry, home goods, and accessories from dozens of countries.in addition, the bazaars offer cultural performances and presentations, including live music, storytelling, craft-making demonstrations, and the unique chance to talk directly with makers and community advocates.
$1,710,339 spentof which $409,396 as grants$461,220 earned by the program32% of program spendingIndigenous rights radio: cultural survival produces and distributes radio programs to inform indigenous peoples about their rights under law and treaties.
$246,276 spent5% of program spending
The 7 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,314,139.
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 2022 to 2023, from $5.1M to $15M (+189%).
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 0% · 2021 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
91% of CULTURAL SURVIVAL INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (96% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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.
Board chair
Kaimana Barcarse
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2019 and FY2020 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 36 funders, grant income rose $115k → $9.6M.
15 of 67 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 13% 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 CULTURAL SURVIVAL INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 67 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
CULTURAL SURVIVAL INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 27% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 87% · 2018 50% · 2019 46% · 2020 27% · 2021 35% · 2022 56% · 2023 34% — 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
50% of CULTURAL SURVIVAL INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% 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
CULTURAL SURVIVAL INC draws 98% of its grant income from funders outside Massachusetts, across 20 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
CULTURAL SURVIVAL INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 152 civil rights nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 152 civil rights nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Organizations like CULTURAL SURVIVAL 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
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
49%
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 CULTURAL SURVIVAL 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 CULTURAL SURVIVAL INC?
- CULTURAL SURVIVAL INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 67 organizations whose IRS filings report $24,328,025 to it, the largest being WAVERLEY STREET FOUNDATION ($6,500,000). 43 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CULTURAL SURVIVAL INC have?
- IRS filings report 67 organizations giving $24,328,025 in grants to CULTURAL SURVIVAL INC, 43 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CULTURAL SURVIVAL INC?
- WAVERLEY STREET FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $6,500,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CULTURAL SURVIVAL 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.
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 67 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