California · Nonprofit
EAST-WEST PLAYERS INC
EAST-WEST PLAYERS INC (California) receives grants from 58 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,708,894 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($3,000,000). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.9M
- Funders on record
- 58
- Grants received
- $11M
- Net assets
- $4.8M
What East-West Players Inc does
Mission
The purpose of east west players, inc. (ewp) is to raise the visibility of the asian american experience by presenting world-class theatrical productions, developing artists of color, and providing impactful youth education programs. Founded in 1965, ewp is one of the nation's longest-running theaters of color and the largest and oldest asian american theater company. Ewp strives to ensure that asian and pacific islander stories are told by working to increase access, inclusion, and representation in the creative economy through the production and development of theatrical works, a robust range of professional enrichment and arts education programs, and other civic activities. In recognition of its work, ewp was designated by the ford foundation as a national cultural treasure, one of only 20 organizations to receive the honor.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
East west players presents 3-5 mainstage productions per year. These consist of world premiere plays and musicals, as well as reinterpretations of classic or established works primarily written, performed, and/or developed by asian american, pacific islander, and native hawaiian (aapinh) artists. These productions illuminate the diverse stories and experiences within the aapinh communities and provide diverse artists opportunities they might not be afforded otherwise.
$1,934,544 spent$506,899 earned by the program75% of program spendingEast west players educational programs include professional enrichment classes and workshops for aspiring actors, directors and writers. East west players arts education programs include touring theatre for youth productions which offer new ways to see the world through theater that stimulate students to discover the prominent role asian americans have played in american history.
$647,155 spent$113,734 earned by the program25% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,581,699.
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 2020 to 2021, from $588k to $6.4M (+993%).
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 7% · 2018 1% · 2019 4% · 2020 4% · 2021 2% · 2022 12% · 2023 5% · 2024 29% · 2025 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
56% of EAST-WEST PLAYERS INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
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.
Board chair
Rose Chan Loui
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 21 funders, grant income rose $112k → $4.1M.
11 of 58 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 40% 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 EAST-WEST PLAYERS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 58 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
EAST-WEST PLAYERS INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 28% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
43% 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 EAST-WEST PLAYERS INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 53% · 2018 49% · 2019 29% · 2020 82% · 2021 53% · 2022 35% · 2023 36% — 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 EAST-WEST PLAYERS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 53% 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
EAST-WEST PLAYERS INC draws 53% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 11 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $4.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
EAST-WEST PLAYERS INC's funding base is broadening — from 10 funders to 21 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding EAST-WEST PLAYERS INC 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 EAST-WEST PLAYERS 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
78%
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 EAST-WEST PLAYERS 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 EAST-WEST PLAYERS INC?
- EAST-WEST PLAYERS INC (California) receives grants from 58 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,708,894 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($3,000,000). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does EAST-WEST PLAYERS INC have?
- IRS filings report 58 organizations giving $10,708,894 in grants to EAST-WEST PLAYERS INC, 31 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of EAST-WEST PLAYERS INC?
- NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $3,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like EAST-WEST PLAYERS INC 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.
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 58 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing