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Connecticut · Nonprofit

GREATER BRIDGEPORT SYMPHONY SOCIETY INC

GREATER BRIDGEPORT SYMPHONY SOCIETY INC (Connecticut) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $382,661 to it, the largest being FAIRFIELD COUNTY'S COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ($157,046). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 56% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

Revenue FY2025
$398k
Funders on record
13
Grants received
$383k
Net assets
$147k
10/13 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 17%
01What it does

What Greater Bridgeport Symphony Society Inc does

Mission

To present orchestra concerts through the greater bridgeport symphony orchestra and educational programs. The societys objective is to bring enriching musical performances to people throughout the greater brideport area.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Program

  1. Concerts-concert series for cultural entertainment in greater bridgeport area and educational programs

    $283,437 spentof which $2,212 as grants$66,363 earned by the program
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $283,437.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($519k) Expenses 100 ($482k) Net assets 100 ($134k)2018 Revenue 117 ($606k) Expenses 109 ($525k) Net assets 162 ($216k)2019 Revenue 101 ($526k) Expenses 113 ($545k) Net assets 144 ($192k)2021 Revenue 99 ($516k) Expenses 69 ($334k) Net assets 275 ($368k)2022 Revenue 102 ($529k) Expenses 95 ($460k) Net assets 327 ($437k)2023 Revenue 123 ($641k) Expenses 147 ($709k) Net assets 250 ($334k)2024 Revenue 74 ($386k) Expenses 125 ($601k) Net assets 89 ($119k)2025 Revenue 77 ($398k) Expenses 75 ($361k) Net assets 110 ($147k)
'17'18'19'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (77)Expenses (75)Net assets (110)

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $345k to $175k (−49%).

$212k
$305k
$211k
$403k
$437k
$345k
$175k
$233k
'17'18'19'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 2% · 2018 0% · 2019 5% · 2021 21% · 2022 18% · 2023 15% · 2024 5% · 2025 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$37k
’17
$80k
’18
−$19k
’19
$182k
’21
$69k
’22
−$68k
’23
−$215k
’24
$38k
’25
2.9
months of
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.

Chief executive

Phyllis Cortese

Executive director

Board chair

Doris Harrington

Chairman

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

The chief executive listed changed between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.

'17'18'19'21'22'23'24'25
Listed3331303030333527
Joined·+8+4·+0+11+5+1
No longer listed·105·0839
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $30k → $34k.

3 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 56% 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 GREATER BRIDGEPORT SYMPHONY SOCIETY 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

GREATER BRIDGEPORT SYMPHONY SOCIETY INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% of grant income and the top three 68%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

68% 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 GREATER BRIDGEPORT SYMPHONY SOCIETY INC.

41%
largest funder
68%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 52% · 2018 44% · 2019 83% · 2020 61% · 2021 58% · 2022 48% · 2023 46% — 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

55% of GREATER BRIDGEPORT SYMPHONY SOCIETY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 77% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

56% of GREATER BRIDGEPORT SYMPHONY SOCIETY INC'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 $169k that is directly attributable, 81% of it comes from Connecticut funders.

NY
MA
CT

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Connecticut out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $213k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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.

04Its place in the field

Government funding GREATER BRIDGEPORT SYMPHONY SOCIETY INC receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $192k on record.

State$192k
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Top programs
  • State Aid Grants$131k
  • Pass thru Grant Non-State$61k

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 GREATER BRIDGEPORT SYMPHONY SOCIETY 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 Connecticut

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

79% of spending goes to programs.

Program 79%Management 19%Fundraising 3%

Governance

27
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

99%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

CT

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for GREATER BRIDGEPORT SYMPHONY SOCIETY 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.

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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 GREATER BRIDGEPORT SYMPHONY SOCIETY INC?
GREATER BRIDGEPORT SYMPHONY SOCIETY INC (Connecticut) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $382,661 to it, the largest being FAIRFIELD COUNTY'S COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ($157,046). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 56% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does GREATER BRIDGEPORT SYMPHONY SOCIETY INC have?
IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $382,661 in grants to GREATER BRIDGEPORT SYMPHONY SOCIETY INC, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of GREATER BRIDGEPORT SYMPHONY SOCIETY INC?
FAIRFIELD COUNTY'S COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $157,046 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like GREATER BRIDGEPORT SYMPHONY SOCIETY INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Connecticut. 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 Greater Bridgeport Symphony Society →

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 13 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing