Texas · Nonprofit
Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre
Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre (Texas) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $491,186 to it, the largest being Houston Arts Alliance ($179,511). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $152k
- Funders on record
- 9
- Grants received
- $491k
- Net assets
- $3k
What Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre does
Mission
Express Children's Theater is Houston's oldest and largest performing arts and education organization dedicated to children and their families.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Each season Express presents an average of 250 performances and reaches about 75,000 people. Founded in 1991 Express has entertained ,educated and inspired over 2 million people to date.
$90,477 spent$75,820 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $90,477.
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 2021 to 2022, from $68k to $35k (−49%).
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: 2023 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
50% of Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 7 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 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $60k → $68k.
From the IRS filings of Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre’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
Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre leans on a few funders — its largest provides 37% of grant income and the top three 65%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
77% 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 Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 43% · 2018 29% · 2019 37% · 2020 63% · 2021 46% · 2022 28% · 2023 26% — 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 Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 89% 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
100% of Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre's grant income comes from Texas funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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
Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre's funding base is broadening — from 4 funders to 7 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre
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 Texas
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
53% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre: 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 Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre?
- Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre (Texas) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $491,186 to it, the largest being Houston Arts Alliance ($179,511). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre have?
- IRS filings report 9 organizations giving $491,186 in grants to Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre?
- Houston Arts Alliance is the largest funder on record, with $179,511 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Texas. 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 Express Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre →
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 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