New York · Nonprofit
EXPLORING THE METROPOLIS INC
EXPLORING THE METROPOLIS INC (New York) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $107,284 to it, the largest being THE GEORGE L SHIELDS FOUNDATION INC ($67,500). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2021
- $796
- Funders on record
- 9
- Grants received
- $107k
- Net assets
- $0
What Exploring the Metropolis Inc does
Mission
The mission of Exploring the Metropolis (EtM) is to study, analyze and resolve the workspace needs of the cultural and performing arts community in the New York City area. EtM achieves this mission through 1) Artist residency programs matching performing artists in need of workspace with facilities that have underutilized space 2) Research studies assessing workspace issues affecting the arts industry in all five boroughs of NYC, and 3) Consulting work, assisting facility managers with better management and utilization of their existing spaces.
As stated on its FY2021 Form 990-EZ.
Program
EtM ceased all program operations as of June 30, 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Upon dissolution, it transferred its remaining assets to support the work of Redtail Artist Residencies, a fiscally-sponsored project created to continue the work of EtM. (Please see a more detailed explanation on Schedule O.)
The first program described on its most recent Form 990-EZ.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2018 to 2019, from $97k to $61k (−37%).
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 16% · 2018 14% · 2019 12% · 2020 32%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 5 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2021: the base narrowed from 4 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $24k → $5.
1 of 9 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 0% 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 EXPLORING THE METROPOLIS 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
EXPLORING THE METROPOLIS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 63% of grant income and the top three 85%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 64% · 2018 84% · 2019 69% · 2020 47% · 2021 100% — growing more concentrated.
“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
20% of EXPLORING THE METROPOLIS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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 FY2021, 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
EXPLORING THE METROPOLIS INC draws 72% of its grant income from funders outside New York, across 3 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $34 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.
Organizations like EXPLORING THE METROPOLIS 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.
Public support
51%
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 EXPLORING THE METROPOLIS 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 EXPLORING THE METROPOLIS INC?
- EXPLORING THE METROPOLIS INC (New York) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $107,284 to it, the largest being THE GEORGE L SHIELDS FOUNDATION INC ($67,500). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does EXPLORING THE METROPOLIS INC have?
- IRS filings report 9 organizations giving $107,284 in grants to EXPLORING THE METROPOLIS INC, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of EXPLORING THE METROPOLIS INC?
- THE GEORGE L SHIELDS FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $67,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like EXPLORING THE METROPOLIS 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 Exploring the Metropolis →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2021 (financials across 2017–2021), and the filings of 9 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