Massachusetts · Nonprofit
FROM THE TOP INC
FROM THE TOP INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 55 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,355,138 to it, the largest being JACK KENT COOKE FOUNDATION ($4,670,100). 38 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.9M
- Funders on record
- 55
- Grants received
- $10M
- Net assets
- $2.0M
What From the Top Inc does
Mission
From the top empowers and celebrates young musicians.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
For almost 25 years, from the top has been america's largest media platform dedicated to featuring classically-trained young musicians. Through its nationally syndicated show heard on nearly 200 radio stations, weekly audiences of more than 350,000 people enjoy inspiring original content that shines a spotlight on remarkable young people.
$596,326 spent$347,631 earned by the program40% of program spendingThe admissions, recruitment, and scholarship department is the engine that fuels from the top, bringing young musicians of different ages, geographic regions, socio-economic, and racial backgrounds into the organization. The admissions team facilitates communication and awareness of from the top to a vast network of music educators, programs, and camps. Ftt holds auditions throughout the year via zoom and annually awards 200,000 in scholarships (approximately 20 musicians received 10,000 each). Since 2005, from the top has awarded over 4 million in jack kent cooke awards to over 400 exceptional young musicians with financial need. In 2023 from the top started the tim banker talent development award that serves 2 - 3 young musicians annually.
$476,713 spentof which $216,508 as grants$10,123 earned by the program32% of program spendingOver the past decade, from the top has recognized the power in providing a space for young musicians to slow down, reflect and build leadership skills and "citizen artist" muscles. Through a month of online workshops and facilitated peer exchange, these young artists examine their passions, what skills they have in and out of music, and what the world needs. They then put their learning into practice in a community setting.
$120,523 spent8% of program spendingFrom the top's platform to bring visibility to young musicians and build audiences includes from the top and npr social media efforts. During our 25th anniversary from the top reached 3 million views across social media platforms. Singularly, our 2025 npr tiny desk concert reached 1.1 million online. Additionally, we marked our fifth year of creating and distributing daily joy videos, a popular daily email subscription which has garnered over 5 million cumulative views.
$285,869 spent$1,078 earned by the program19% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,479,431.
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 $1.8M to $3.1M (+73%).
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 3% · 2018 7% · 2019 6% · 2020 5% · 2021 15% · 2022 24% · 2023 10% · 2024 7% · 2025 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
75% of FROM THE TOP INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 9 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
Kathleen Van Bergen
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 21 funders to 26 funders, grant income rose $1.3M → $1.4M.
14 of 55 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 17% 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 FROM THE TOP INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 55 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
FROM THE TOP INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 45% of grant income and the top three 63%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 40% · 2018 42% · 2019 46% · 2020 37% · 2021 50% · 2022 64% · 2023 38% — 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
49% of FROM THE TOP INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% 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
FROM THE TOP INC draws 81% of its grant income from funders outside Massachusetts, across 11 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.7M 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.
Against its field
FROM THE TOP INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding FROM THE TOP INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.3M on record — $340k federal, $993k state.
- National Endowment for the Arts$340k
- (PP) STATE AID/POL SUB$993k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like FROM THE TOP 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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
64% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
64%
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 FROM THE TOP 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 FROM THE TOP INC?
- FROM THE TOP INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 55 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,355,138 to it, the largest being JACK KENT COOKE FOUNDATION ($4,670,100). 38 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FROM THE TOP INC have?
- IRS filings report 55 organizations giving $10,355,138 in grants to FROM THE TOP INC, 38 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FROM THE TOP INC?
- JACK KENT COOKE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $4,670,100 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FROM THE TOP INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 From the Top →
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 55 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