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California · Nonprofit

ELEMENTAL MUSIC

ELEMENTAL MUSIC (California) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $989,522 to it, the largest being TIDES FOUNDATION ($200,000). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

Revenue FY2025
$1.2M
Funders on record
33
Grants received
$990k
Net assets
$167k
15/33 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 37%
01What it does

What Elemental Music does

Mission

Elemental Music celebrates music-making and builds community through exceptional youth education programs. Our core values are community, diversity and inclusion, equity, excellence, and the transformative power of music.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Elemental strings: our signature string orchestra provides students in grades 3 to 5 with two levels of string orchestra: intermediate and advanced. Students receive sectional rehearsals and full ensemble experiences under professional musicians and teaching artists. The program prepares students for music studies at the middle school level. 55 students were enrolled in the 2024/25 season and they performed 3 public concerts. Instruction took place weekly from september through early june.

    $93,968 spent$64,763 earned by the program
    10% of program spending

  2. Prelude: this is an introductory-level string ensemble for students in grades 3 to 5. There is no prior experience required to join this program and most students in the ensemble are learning an instrument for the first time. Prelude prepares students with a thorough technical and musical foundation, including note-reading, and prepares students for participation in Elemental Music's more advanced ensembles. 17 students were enrolled in the 2024/25 season and they performed 3 public concerts. Instruction took place weekly from september through early june.

    $31,883 spent$18,462 earned by the program
    3% of program spending

  3. Elemental band: our concert band for students in grades 35 was launched in 2013. The ensemble helps young band students develop ensemble skills and gives them a chance to perform as a full concert band something not available in elementary school music classes where students are grouped in instrument-specific classes. 11 students were enrolled in the 2024/25 season and they performed 3 public concerts. Instruction took place weekly from september through early june.

    $35,107 spent$11,992 earned by the program
    4% of program spending

  4. Our bergmann program/encore lesson program provided 98 socioeconomically disadvantaged students in grades 4 to 12 from the santa monica-malibu unified school district with free year-round private music lessons, including summer months. Students received weekly lessons ranging from 30 to 60 minutes depending on age and technical ability level. Students performed in a free public recital.

    $239,717 spent$53,355 earned by the program
    24% of program spending

  5. Elemental guitar: this unique program provides classical guitarists in grades 3 to 8 with the opportunity to learn and perform as an ensemble rather than learning as a solitary pursuit. The program serves a range of levels, from total beginners to advanced guitarists, allowing for students to play more advanced parts year after year. 21 students were enrolled in the 2024/25 season and they performed 3 public concerts. Instruction took place weekly from september through early june.

    $30,105 spent$21,051 earned by the program
    3% of program spending

  6. Elemental choir: this children's choir provides vocal music education for students in grades 3 to 5, offering them the chance to learn healthy vocal technique, solfege and sight-singing, and ensemble singing with a focus on multi-part harmonies. 27 students were enrolled in the 2024/25 season and they performed 3 public concerts, in addition to outreach performances. Instruction took place weekly from september through early june.

    $29,842 spent$35,003 earned by the program
    3% of program spending

  7. Academy philharmonic: this is our advanced full orchestra for wind and string students in grades 6 to 8. Students learn how to blend multiple instrument groups and gain an introduction to traditional orchestral repertoire ahead of playing in orchestral groups at the high school level. Auditions are competitive each year. 32 students were enrolled in the 2024/25 season and they performed 3 public concerts. Instruction took place weekly from september through early june.

    $68,401 spent$37,250 earned by the program
    7% of program spending

  8. Academy strings: this is an intermediate string orchestra for students in grades 6 to 8 , designed to help players develop essential technique, musicality, and ensemble playing skills needed to play advanced repertoire. Many students from elemental strings funnel into academy strings to hone their skills before being accepted into academy philharmonic. The 2024/25 season was the first year of this ensemble. 19 students were enrolled and they performed 3 public concerts. Instruction took place weekly from september through early june.

    $29,937 spent$23,133 earned by the program
    3% of program spending

  9. Academy winds: this is an intermediate concert band for students in grades 6 to 8, providing middle school band students with additional opportunities to make music alongside friends. Students explore fun repertoire that spans multiple cultures and genres, even learning the basics of improvisation. The 2024/25 season was the first year of this ensemble. 18 students were enrolled and they performed 3 public concerts. Instruction took place weekly from september through early june.

    $40,073 spent$19,113 earned by the program
    4% of program spending

  10. Chamber music institute: designed for instrumentalists in grades 6 to 12 and vocalists in grades 6 to 8, the chamber music institute is an audition-based program for strings, woodwinds, brass,percussion, guitar, and voice. Musicians are grouped in small, conductorless ensembles and work with a professional musician in coachings each week. Chamber groups received 24 weekly coachings from late september through late may, had two master classes with guest artists, and performed in two public recitals. There were 57 students enrolled in the 2024/25 season.

    $83,250 spent$64,773 earned by the program
    8% of program spending

  11. Teaching fellowship: our teaching fellowship launched in fall 2022 with the goal of expanding the future pool of teaching artists in southern california, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds in classical music. The program provides hands-on teaching experience and mentorship for four college students, who supported weekly ensemble programs from late september through early june. Fellows also participated in six professional development sessions with southern california arts professionals.

    $26,139 spent
    3% of program spending

  12. Elemental @ westminster: our in-school core music classes at westminster elementary school, a title I lausd school in the venice neighborhood, provided all 370 students from tk through 5th grade with core music instruction throughout the school year. We also brought in guest artists to work with students and produced two concerts.

    $121,529 spent$40,368 earned by the program
    12% of program spending

  13. Broadway singers: this weekly afterschool choir program at lausd's broadway elementary school for students in grades k2 gives young singers an introduction to choral singing through age-appropriate pedagogy and repertoire. Students develop confidence, listening skills, and begin to cultivate an understanding of musical technique and pitch. 29 students were enrolled and they performed 3 public concerts in the 2024/25 season. Instruction took place weekly from september through early june.

    $32,140 spent$21,867 earned by the program
    3% of program spending

  14. Broadway chorus: this weekly afterschool choir program at lausd's broadway elementary school for students in grades 3 to 5 provides students with a choral experience that focuses on developing vocal technique, music literacy, and more. Students learn to sing in multiple languages and the ensemble is a natural continuation of ensemble singing for singers graduating from broadway singers. 27 students were enrolled and they performed 3 public concerts in the 2024/25 season. Instruction took place weekly from september through early june.

    $33,086 spent$22,007 earned by the program
    3% of program spending

  15. Broadway strings: this weekly afterschool string orchestra ensemble at lausd's broadway elementary school for students in grades 34 requires no prior experience and introduces students to string instruments playing on the violin, the viola, or the cello. Students learn the basics of musical technique and musicianship, including note-reading. 15 students were enrolled and they performed 3 public concerts in the 2024/25 season. Instruction took place weekly from september through early june.

    $30,741 spent$17,988 earned by the program
    3% of program spending

  16. Broadway orchestra: this weekly afterschool string orchestra ensemble at lausd's broadway elementary school for students in grades 3 to 5 is an intermediate string orchestra and a natural continuation of ensemble playing for students who started learning with us in broadway strings. Students play more advanced repertoire and continue building their musical technique. 14 students were enrolled and they performed 3 public concerts in the 2024/25 season. Instruction took place weekly from september through early june.

    $33,204 spent$14,272 earned by the program
    3% of program spending

  17. Early childhood music: our early childhood classes provide a foundation in music for children ages 4 months through 7 years through age-appropriate activities involving singing, movement, and instrument play. Classes are held in 8 week sessions. The program served 8 families in the 2024/25 season, with classes occurring from september through may. Our early childhood director also led multiple classes at outreach events including at the santa monica public library and the santa monica arts & literacy festival.

    $18,269 spent$3,670 earned by the program
    2% of program spending

  18. Summer sounds academy: this summer camp for rising 6th through 9th graders offers a full orchestra experience. The camp runs twice a week for five weeks. Students learn advanced repertoire and have the chance to play as a conductorless chamber orchestra. Summer 2025 was the first time this camp has been offered. 16 students were enrolled and they gave a casual performance on the last day of the camp for friends and family.

    $5,547 spent$4,537 earned by the program
    1% of program spending

The 18 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $982,938.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($343k) Expenses 100 ($341k) Net assets 100 ($73k)2018 Revenue 132 ($452k) Expenses 127 ($433k) Net assets 127 ($92k)2021 Revenue 139 ($475k) Expenses 147 ($502k) Net assets 276 ($202k)2022 Revenue 205 ($702k) Expenses 198 ($675k) Net assets 314 ($230k)2023 Revenue 338 ($1.2M) Expenses 300 ($1.0M) Net assets 503 ($368k)2024 Revenue 309 ($1.1M) Expenses 321 ($1.1M) Net assets 466 ($340k)2025 Revenue 353 ($1.2M) Expenses 374 ($1.3M) Net assets 229 ($167k)
2017201820212022202320242025
Revenue (353)Expenses (374)Net assets (229)Peer revenue range

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 $633k to $1.1M (+79%).

$90k
$267k
$318k
$386k
$581k
$633k
$1.1M
2017201820212022202320242025
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 6% · 2018 13% · 2021 20% · 2022 10% · 2023 16% · 2024 13% · 2025 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

52% of ELEMENTAL MUSIC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 5,377 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.

$2k
’17
$19k
’18
−$27k
’21
$27k
’22
$140k
’23
−$33k
’24
−$61k
’25
2.5
months of
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.

2017201820212022202320242025
Listed1210109121210
Joined·+0·+1+4+3+1
No longer listed·2·2133
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 11 funders, grant income rose $2k → $210k.

Funder
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
'23
'24*
'25*
'26*
total
The Cma Foundationunclassified
$20k
funders
1
5
3
7
7
6
11
13
10
1

9 of 33 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 59% 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 ELEMENTAL MUSIC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 33 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

ELEMENTAL MUSIC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% 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

67% 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 ELEMENTAL MUSIC.

20%
largest funder
48%
top three
~10
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 66% · 2019 55% · 2020 78% · 2021 57% · 2022 37% · 2023 48% — 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

8% of ELEMENTAL MUSIC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 45% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y

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

59% of ELEMENTAL MUSIC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $401k that is directly attributable, 76% of it comes from California funders.

NY
MA
CA
MO
TN
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
California out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $588k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

ELEMENTAL MUSIC has grown faster than three-quarters of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−5% · below the median
Months of reserve2.5mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)17% · top quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Organizations like ELEMENTAL MUSIC

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

Gay Mens Chorus of Los Angeles83%Los Angeles Music and Art School82%Eastside Friends of Music80%Music Is Extraordinary Inc80%El Sol Science and Arts Academy of Santa Ana80%El Rio Community School80%Music Center Foundation80%Big Minds Incorporated80%

Nationally

Gay Mens Chorus of Los Angeles83%Los Angeles Music and Art School82%The Missouri Symphony82%Executive Education Academy Charter School Foundation82%Mater Academy Inc81%Foundation for Eastern Christian School Association Inc81%The School for Strings Inc81%Upbeat NYC Inc81%
05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

77% of spending goes to programs.

Program 77%Management 10%Fundraising 13%

Governance

9
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

100%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

CA

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ELEMENTAL MUSIC: 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.

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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 ELEMENTAL MUSIC?
ELEMENTAL MUSIC (California) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $989,522 to it, the largest being TIDES FOUNDATION ($200,000). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does ELEMENTAL MUSIC have?
IRS filings report 33 organizations giving $989,522 in grants to ELEMENTAL MUSIC, 15 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of ELEMENTAL MUSIC?
TIDES FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $200,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like ELEMENTAL MUSIC 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 Elemental Music →

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 33 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