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Illinois · Nonprofit

ETA CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION

ETA CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,397,395 to it, the largest being IFF ($425,000). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$226k
Funders on record
14
Grants received
$1.4M
Net assets
$3.5M
9/14 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 80%
01What it does

What Eta Creative Arts Foundation does

Mission

Eta Creative Arts Foundation seeks to be a major cultural resource institution for the preservation, perpetuation and promulgation of the african american aesthetic in the city of chicago, the state of illinois and the nation toward this end, Eta Creative Arts Foundation shall provide professional opportunities by way of training and performance for the development of both youth and adults as artists, opportunities for playwrights to hone and have their works produced, work for artists and technicians, sales for visual artists through the gallery and exposure for the general public to authentic valid projections of african american life styles, experiences and aspirations.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Productions: Eta Creative Arts Foundation provides professional opportunities through performances and on the job training for the development of both youth and young adults as artist.

    $89,538 spent$11,793 earned by the program
    55% of program spending
  2. Theater rental: Eta Creative Arts Foundation rents its facilities to local groups to promote their productions.

    $64,538 spent$10,300 earned by the program
    40% of program spending
  3. Community engagement: eta host a plethora of community events for adults throughout the year.

    $7,616 spent$4,603 earned by the program
    5% of program spending
  4. Kids summer camp: eta provides a 8 week summer performing arts camp for the youth ages 7-13

    $0 spent
    0% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $161,692.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 = 20182018 Revenue 100 ($236k) Expenses 100 ($369k) Net assets 100 ($4.7M)2019 Revenue 66 ($157k) Expenses 121 ($444k) Net assets 94 ($4.4M)2020 Revenue 76 ($181k) Expenses 113 ($416k) Net assets 89 ($4.2M)2021 Revenue 257 ($607k) Expenses 99 ($366k) Net assets 86 ($4.0M)2022 Revenue 67 ($158k) Expenses 135 ($499k) Net assets 76 ($3.6M)2023 Revenue 105 ($249k) Expenses 108 ($399k) Net assets 75 ($3.5M)2024 Revenue 96 ($226k) Expenses 99 ($364k) Net assets 73 ($3.5M)
2018201920202021202220232024
Revenue (96)Expenses (99)Net assets (73)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 2023 to 2024, from $4.1M to $5.0M (+22%).

$4.8M
$4.6M
$4.4M
$4.2M
$3.7M
$4.1M
$5.0M
2018201920202021202220232024
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.

2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2019 11% · 2020 15% · 2021 8% · 2024 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

85% of ETA CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 19,547 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.

−$133k
’18
−$288k
’19
−$236k
’20
$241k
’21
−$341k
’22
−$150k
’23
−$137k
’24
53
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.

Chief executive

Kenya Thomas

Executive director

Board chair

Requel Gibson

Board president

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

2018201920202021202220232024
Listed677141355
Joined·+1+2+11+0+2+0
No longer listed·0241100
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 5 funders, grant income fell $92k → $88k.

3 of 14 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 26% 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 ETA CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION’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

ETA CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 30% of grant income and the top three 69%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

63% 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 ETA CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION.

30%
largest funder
69%
top three
~5
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 54% · 2018 67% · 2019 73% · 2020 76% · 2021 72% · 2022 40% · 2023 35% — 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 ETA CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% give in more than one year at all.

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

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

94% of ETA CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Illinois funders.

IL
DE

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

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

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $359k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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

ETA CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 17,936 arts & culture nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−61% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve52.7mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)−1% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 17,936 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024

Organizations like ETA CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION

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 Illinois

Nationally

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

44% of spending goes to programs.

Program 44%Management 56%Fundraising 0%

Governance

4
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

83%

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

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

IL

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ETA CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION: 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 ETA CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION?
ETA CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,397,395 to it, the largest being IFF ($425,000). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does ETA CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION have?
IRS filings report 14 organizations giving $1,397,395 in grants to ETA CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of ETA CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION?
IFF is the largest funder on record, with $425,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like ETA CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. 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 Eta Creative Arts →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2018–2024), and the filings of 14 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