Minnesota · Nonprofit
GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION
GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION (Minnesota) receives grants from 152 organizations whose IRS filings report $31,081,215 to it, the largest being WEM FOUNDATION ($8,285,000). 102 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $36M
- Funders on record
- 152
- Grants received
- $31M
- Net assets
- $151M
What Guthrie Theater Foundation does
Mission
The guthrie theater engages exceptional theater artists in the exploration of both classic and contemporary plays, connecting the community we serve to one another and to the world. Through its extraordinary artists, staff and facility, the guthrie is committed to the people of minnesota and, from its place rooted deeply in the twin cities, influences the field as a leading 21st-century arts organization.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Theater performances: during the 2024-2025 season, the guthrie theater presented a vibrant season of classic and contemporary works that engaged tens of thousands of patrons and enriched the cultural life of the twin cities. The season opened with the lehman trilogy, an inventive, anti realist production in which three actors portrayed 71 characters, prompting audiences to reflect on the origins and consequences of america's financial systems. All the devils are here, created and performed by patrick page, offered a provocative exploration of shakespeare's villains and provided a timely lens on human choice and morality. The 50th anniversary staging of a christmas carol welcomed more than 55,000 attendees and introduced a new scrooge whose performance brought fresh humor and warmth to the beloved holiday tradition. Productions such as the heart sellers celebrated asian american history through an intimate friendship story, while a midsummer night's dream delighted audiences with its joyful, visually rich interpretation of shakespeare's classic. Agatha christie's the mousetrap captivated theatergoers with its iconic mystery, and the nacirema society offered a nuanced portrayal of a…
$25,033,283 spentof which $48,371 as grants$15,845,821 earned by the program97% of program spendingEducation and engagement: during the 2024-2025 season, the guthrie's education and engagement programs deepened public connection to the theater through a wide range of activities serving audiences of all ages. The mainstage season engagement series offered approximately 25 events, including play clubs, artist conversations, and community focused programs such as an indigenous artist's market, engaging patrons in the study and practice of theater. The theater in focus initiative expanded access to theatrical learning by offering educators archived productions of shakespeare's hamlet, henry v, and a midsummer night's dream, along with guthrie designed curriculum for classroom use. Nearly 200 young people participated in week-long summer camps taught by professional artists, with 72 scholarships awarded to reduce financial barriers; several past participants have returned as performers or gone on to pursue further training at universities worldwide. The guthrie also sustained key partnerships, including with the university of minnesota's bfa acting training program and with youth serving organizations such as project success and inspiremsp, collectively connecting thousands of…
$670,166 spentof which $23,325 as grants$160,398 earned by the program3% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $25,703,449.
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 2020 to 2021, from $150M to $167M (+11%).
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 4% · 2018 3% · 2019 4% · 2020 4% · 2021 58% · 2022 25% · 2023 4% · 2024 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
44% of GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 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
Jennifer Reedstrom Bishop
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 40 funders to 76 funders, grant income rose $2.0M → $13M.
26 of 152 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 30% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $3.7M from 5 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Minneapolis Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION raised.
From the IRS filings of GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 152 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
GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 27% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
33% 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 GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 55% · 2018 57% · 2019 29% · 2020 24% · 2021 17% · 2022 16% · 2023 66% — growing more concentrated.
“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
53% of GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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
84% of GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Minnesota funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $9.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 15 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
GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION's funding base is broadening — from 40 funders to 76 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 772 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $205k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$205k
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 GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION
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 Minnesota
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
75%
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 GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION: 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 GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION?
- GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION (Minnesota) receives grants from 152 organizations whose IRS filings report $31,081,215 to it, the largest being WEM FOUNDATION ($8,285,000). 102 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 152 organizations giving $31,081,215 in grants to GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION, 102 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION?
- WEM FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $8,285,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Minnesota. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 152 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