Oregon · Nonprofit
Fuse Theatre Ensemble
Fuse Theatre Ensemble (Oregon) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $365,368 to it, the largest being THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($183,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 66% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $230k
- Funders on record
- 11
- Grants received
- $365k
- Net assets
- $47k
What Fuse Theatre Ensemble does
Mission
?Fuse Theatre Ensemble is a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon, dedicated to producing paradigm-shifting theatre that centers marginalized voices, particularly those of the LGBTQIA+ community. Their mission emphasizes creating community and understanding through innovative performances that challenge audiences to exit their comfort zones. They prioritize representation by ensuring that stories about marginalized groups are told by those within those communities. Additionally, Fuse focuses on maximizing funds that go directly to artists, highlighting the importance of the people involved in the art over material expenses.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
In 2024, Fuse Theatre Ensemble undertook a new program service by serving as the fiscal sponsor for the Oregon Origins Project. Through this sponsorship, Fuse provided administrative and financial oversight to support the project's mission-aligned activities. The fiscal sponsorship enabled the Oregon Origins Project to operate under Fuse's tax-exempt status while advancing artistic work that aligns with Fuse's commitment to promoting diverse and marginalized voices through theatre and performance.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
In 2024, Fuse Theatre Ensemble undertook a new program service by serving as the fiscal sponsor for the Oregon Origins Project. Through this sponsorship, Fuse provided administrative and financial oversight to support the project's mission-aligned activities. The fiscal sponsorship enabled the Oregon Origins Project to operate under Fuse's tax-exempt status while advancing artistic work that aligns with Fuse's commitment to promoting diverse and marginalized voices through theatre and performance.
$42,750 spentof which $42,750 as grants$47,270 earned by the program33% of program spendingFuse Theatre Ensemble produced Blonde on a Bum Trip, an original musical about Candy Darling, a transgender icon and Warhol superstar. The project advanced Fuse?s mission to uplift LGBTQIA+ voices through theatre, employing artists, crew, and community partners to bring the production to the stage.
$15,495 spent$8,040 earned by the program12% of program spendingFuse Theatre Ensemble produced A New Brain, a musical by William Finn that explores themes of illness, creativity, and resilience. The production supported Fuse?s mission by highlighting underrepresented experiences through compelling storytelling and by fostering community engagement with issues of health, identity, and artistic expression. Program expenses included artist compensation, production materials, venue costs, and marketing.
$15,216 spent$26,080 earned by the program12% of program spendingFuse Theatre Ensemble produced additional theatrical programming, including late-night cabaret productions that provided emerging and unestablished artists with accessible opportunities to mount regular performances. Other activities included the development of new works, community engagement events, and artist collaborations, all advancing Fuse?s mission to amplify diverse and underrepresented voices through innovative theatre. - Activity Code: Grants Amount: 0 Expense Amount: 56800 Revenue Amount: 16173
$56,800 spent$16,173 earned by the program44% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $130,261.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 $105k to $60k (−43%).
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.
77% of Fuse Theatre Ensemble’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than 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 5 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 5 funders, grant income rose $7k → $98k.
6 of 11 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 66% 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 Fuse Theatre Ensemble’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
Fuse Theatre Ensemble leans on a few funders — its largest provides 50% of grant income and the top three 74%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
70% 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 Fuse Theatre Ensemble.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 53% · 2020 27% · 2021 65% · 2022 52% · 2023 76% — 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
14% of Fuse Theatre Ensemble's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 73% 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
66% of Fuse Theatre Ensemble'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 $123k that is directly attributable, 60% of it comes from Oregon funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $243k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
Fuse Theatre Ensemble has grown faster than three-quarters of the 17,936 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 17,936 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like Fuse Theatre Ensemble
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 Oregon
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
69% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 Fuse Theatre Ensemble: 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 Fuse Theatre Ensemble?
- Fuse Theatre Ensemble (Oregon) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $365,368 to it, the largest being THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($183,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 66% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Fuse Theatre Ensemble have?
- IRS filings report 11 organizations giving $365,368 in grants to Fuse Theatre Ensemble, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Fuse Theatre Ensemble?
- THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $183,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Fuse Theatre Ensemble find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Oregon. 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 Fuse Theatre Ensemble →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2019–2024), and the filings of 11 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