California · Nonprofit
INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO
INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO (California) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,011,995 to it, the largest being RAPPAPORT FAMILY FOUNDATION ($825,000). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 53% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.5M
- Funders on record
- 19
- Grants received
- $3.0M
- Net assets
- $480k
What Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco does
Mission
The Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco (ica sf) is a free, non-collecting contemporary art museum. Ica sf offers artists from all over the world an opportunity to push boundaries, experiment with new ideas, and take risks. Through partnerships with artists and collaborators, ica sf seeks to explore the most critical social, political, and cultural issues happening in the world around us through the lens of artistic practice and is committed to expanding the future canon of artists shown in institutions. Building upon the lessons learned in the first "start up" years, ica sf remains continuously "under construction," committing to a nimbleness rarely found in art institutions. Ica sf seeks to make contemporary art relevant and meaningful for all audiences.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
The Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco is a non-collecting art museum that offers artists from around the world an opportunity to push boundaries, experiment with new ideas, and take risks. We believe in the power of art to explore the most critical social, political, and cultural questions of our time and are committed to expanding the art historical canon of the future. Building upon the lessons learned in our early start-up years, ica sf remains continuously "under construction," embracing a nimbleness rarely found in art institutions. This approach allows us to respond dynamically to the city's evolving needs and to generate cultural momentum that catalyzes positive lasting change in neighborhoods and communities. We seek to make contemporary art relevant and meaningful for all audiences. Admission is always free.
$1,488,025 spent$10,192 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,488,025.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2022, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2022, 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 2023 to 2024, from $1.7M to $514k (−70%).
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.
98% of INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 3 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
Ethan Beard
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2022 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 9 funders, grant income fell $1.1M → $681k.
12 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 53% 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 INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO’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
INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 27% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
56% 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 INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2022 49% · 2023 44% — 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.
Where its funders are
53% of INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO'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 $1.4M that is directly attributable, 98% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
68% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO: 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 INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO?
- INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO (California) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,011,995 to it, the largest being RAPPAPORT FAMILY FOUNDATION ($825,000). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 53% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO have?
- IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $3,011,995 in grants to INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO, 14 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO?
- RAPPAPORT FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $825,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2022–2024), and the filings of 19 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