Kentucky · Nonprofit
FRIENDS OF KENTUCKY THEATRE
FRIENDS OF KENTUCKY THEATRE (Kentucky) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $93,846 to it, the largest being BLUE GRASS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ($89,646). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 96% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.7M
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $94k
- Net assets
- $366k
What Friends of Kentucky Theatre does
Mission
The Kentucky Theatre is a historic building in downtown Lexington, KY, that had fallen into disuse and disrepair. Purchased by the City of Lexington, The Friends of the Kentucky Theatre Inc is a nonprofit tasked with overseeing the restoration, maintenance, operation, and future expansion of the theater in a public-private partnership with the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government. The theater is used by the City, by Nonprofits & NGOs, and by the public for a myriad of local programs, live events, artists & entertainers, including offering modern & classic films, locally written & produced films, historical and other specialty films not available in commercial theatres, as well as film school partnerships with students & faculty at the University of Kentucky. The restoration and maintenance of the historical landmark property, over 100 years old, is an ongoing labor of love.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
2024 was an enormously busy year for the Kentucky Theatre. We sold more than 51,000 tickets to 266 independent, foreign, documentary, and regional films of artistic and/or cultural merit. Supported local nonprofit organizations through donations and rental discounts. Partnered with ten community organizations on film events. Organized four special film/live music events. Presented eight unique screenings with director Q&As and/or panel discussions. Continued seven original curated film series or festivals, including Central Kentucky's first competitive international film festival. SUPPORTING LOCAL NONPROFITS: Each year, The Kentucky Theatre joins forces with local nonprofits to help them raise money for their efforts. We may provide the venue rent-free, discount our rental fees, split ticket proceeds from a special event, or donate a portion of ticket proceeds from regularly scheduled films. For example: For CatVideoFest 2024 we donated a portion of ticket sales to Halfway Home Rescue, Inc [a 501(c)(3) organization] to support their animal rescue efforts. We also hosted their feline adoption fair in our lobby during the film screening. During the Special Screenings of the…
$1,603,220 spentof which $15,169 as grants$1,334,064 earned by the program100% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,603,220.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2022, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2022, 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 2022 to 2023, from $172k to $362k (+111%).
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.
8% of FRIENDS OF KENTUCKY THEATRE’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 3 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
Lisa Meek
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
1 of 2 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 96% 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 FRIENDS OF KENTUCKY 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
FRIENDS OF KENTUCKY THEATRE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 96% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
96% 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 FRIENDS OF KENTUCKY THEATRE.
“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.
Where its funders are
96% of FRIENDS OF KENTUCKY THEATRE'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 $4k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from Kentucky funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $90k 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.
Against its field
FRIENDS OF KENTUCKY THEATRE has grown faster than half of the 2,910 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,910 philanthropy nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like FRIENDS OF KENTUCKY 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 Kentucky
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
93% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FRIENDS OF KENTUCKY 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 FRIENDS OF KENTUCKY THEATRE?
- FRIENDS OF KENTUCKY THEATRE (Kentucky) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $93,846 to it, the largest being BLUE GRASS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ($89,646). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 96% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does FRIENDS OF KENTUCKY THEATRE have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $93,846 in grants to FRIENDS OF KENTUCKY THEATRE.
- Who is the largest funder of FRIENDS OF KENTUCKY THEATRE?
- BLUE GRASS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $89,646 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FRIENDS OF KENTUCKY THEATRE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Kentucky. 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 Friends of Kentucky Theatre →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2022–2024), and the filings of 2 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