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Indiana · Nonprofit

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation Inc

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation Inc (Indiana) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,352,223 to it, the largest being ARTS COUNCIL OF INDIANAPOLIS INC ($590,392). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$8.9M
Funders on record
16
Grants received
$1.4M
Net assets
$121M
9/16 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 6%
01What it does

What Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation Inc does

Mission

The indianapolis symphony orchestra foundation, inc. (the "iso foundation") was formed in september 1990 for the purpose of educating the public and providing financial and other support to the indiana symphony society, inc. (the "society"), an indiana not-for-profit corporation that operates the indianapolis symphony orchestra. It is the general practice of the society to transfer contributions raised, other than annual fund contributions, to the iso foundation unless a donor specifically requires the contribution to be maintained by the society. All fundraising expenses are recorded and reported in the society's accounts.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Program

  1. Provide financial support to the Indiana Symphony Society, Inc. to assist with educational, artistic, operating, and facility purposes as well as community service to the greater Indianapolis area.

    $9,191,728 spentof which $9,110,679 as grants$1,250,000 earned by the program
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $9,191,728.

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. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($8.8M) Expenses 100 ($6.9M) Net assets 100 ($98M)2018 Revenue 151 ($13M) Expenses 114 ($7.9M) Net assets 102 ($101M)2019 Revenue 88 ($7.7M) Expenses 133 ($9.3M) Net assets 100 ($98M)2020 Revenue 91 ($8.0M) Expenses 117 ($8.1M) Net assets 102 ($100M)2021 Revenue 120 ($11M) Expenses 112 ($7.8M) Net assets 122 ($120M)2022 Revenue 109 ($9.6M) Expenses 117 ($8.2M) Net assets 120 ($118M)2023 Revenue 84 ($7.4M) Expenses 112 ($7.8M) Net assets 117 ($115M)2024 Revenue 101 ($8.9M) Expenses 122 ($8.5M) Net assets 123 ($121M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (101)Expenses (122)Net assets (123)Peer revenue range

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 $100M to $120M (+20%).

$99M
$101M
$98M
$100M
$120M
$118M
$115M
$121M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
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
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

33% of Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation Inc’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 5,377 orgs

Surplus & reserves

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

$1.8M
’17
$5.4M
’18
−$1.6M
’19
−$118k
’20
$2.7M
’21
$1.4M
’22
−$384k
’23
$406k
’24
8.9
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.

201720182019202020212024
Listed1010101088
Joined·+0+2+1+0·
No longer listed·0212·
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base held at 5 funders, grant income rose $71k → $103k.

6 of 16 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 41% 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 Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation 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

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 44% of grant income and the top three 88%; half comes from just 2 funders.

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

91% 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 Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation Inc.

44%
largest funder
88%
top three
~3
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 67% · 2018 76% · 2019 97% · 2020 48% · 2021 84% · 2022 83% · 2023 61% — 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

33% of Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% 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

98% of Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation Inc's grant income comes from Indiana funders.

IN
CA
MO

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

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

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $555k 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation Inc holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits its size.

Operating margin5% · above the median
Months of reserve8.9mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)0% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Organizations like Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation 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 Indiana

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 21%Fundraising 0%

Governance

8
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

IN

Part of a family of 2 related entities

  • Indiana Symphony Society Inc · exempt
  • Charitable Remainder Trusts (2) · corp_trust

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation 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 Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation Inc?
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation Inc (Indiana) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,352,223 to it, the largest being ARTS COUNCIL OF INDIANAPOLIS INC ($590,392). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation Inc have?
IRS filings report 16 organizations giving $1,352,223 in grants to Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation Inc, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation Inc?
ARTS COUNCIL OF INDIANAPOLIS INC is the largest funder on record, with $590,392 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Foundation Inc find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Indiana. 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 16 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