New York · Nonprofit
Design Futures Forum Inc
Design Futures Forum Inc (New York) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $87,730 to it, the largest being THE CENTER FOR URBAN PEDAGOGY INC ($72,630). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $208k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $88k
- Net assets
- $105k
What Design Futures Forum Inc does
Mission
To provide education for undergraduate and graduate students on the topic of community driven design
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
We brought together over 70 students and 30 faculty to New Orleans for a 5 day training and capacity building conference
$85,328 spent64% of program spendingWe brought together 20 faculty for a virtual training on imagination and creativity
$25,004 spent19% of program spendingWe hosted a series of 4 virtual trainings for 20 faculty in the spring and summer
$2,904 spent2% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$20,000 spent15% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $133,236.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2022, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2022, 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 2024 to 2025, from $66k to $105k (+58%).
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.
47% of Design Futures Forum Inc’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 4 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
Ezra Kong
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2022 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $73k → $10k.
1 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 6% 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 Design Futures Forum 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
Design Futures Forum Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 83% 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
100% 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 Design Futures Forum Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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
88% of Design Futures Forum Inc's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
Design Futures Forum Inc runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 16,849 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 16,849 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like Design Futures Forum 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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Design Futures Forum 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 Design Futures Forum Inc?
- Design Futures Forum Inc (New York) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $87,730 to it, the largest being THE CENTER FOR URBAN PEDAGOGY INC ($72,630). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Design Futures Forum Inc have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $87,730 in grants to Design Futures Forum Inc, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Design Futures Forum Inc?
- THE CENTER FOR URBAN PEDAGOGY INC is the largest funder on record, with $72,630 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Design Futures Forum Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 Design Futures Forum →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2022–2025), and the filings of 3 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