California · Nonprofit
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC (California) receives grants from 324 organizations whose IRS filings report $46,925,505 to it, the largest being JOHN D AND CATHERINE T MACARTHUR FOUNDATION ($8,829,500). 116 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $12M
- Funders on record
- 324
- Grants received
- $47M
- Net assets
- $5.0M
What International Documentary Foundation Inc does
Mission
We are dedicated to the vision of a world where documentary creators flourish. Through our work, we connect audiences with the best of the form, provide resources, create community, and defend the rights and freedoms of documentary artists, activities and journalists around the globe. We do this work because we believe that documentaries enrich and deepen our culture, fostering a more informed and connected world.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Fundsida supports documentary filmmakers annually through several thoughtfully designed and executed grantmaking funds. These include the pare lorentz documentary fund, which supports artful, creative expression. In fy25, ida distributed $470,644, supporting a diverse slate of independent filmmakers and community-based documentary organizations.
$2,536,206 spentof which $470,644 as grants$83,484 earned by the program19% of program spendingArtist services & education ida serves the documentary community annually through a robust slate of programming and artist services that meet the broad, diverse needs of an international documentary community. These year-round virtual and in-person educational programs include masterclasses and workshops that provide unparalleled mentorship, training, and resources for filmmakers at all stages of their careers. We host multiple annual events that welcome nonfiction filmmakers from around the world, including the ida documentary awards.additionally, our documentary magazine, published quarterly online and in print, attracts an annual international readership of more than 400,000 filmmakers, producers, distributors, exhibitors, commissioning editors, funders, educators, and students, as well as international communities and fans of documentary films.
$1,028,647 spentof which $91,080 as grants$435,267 earned by the program8% of program spendingFiscal sponsorshipida provides fiscal sponsorship for approved documentary films and related projects and accepts grants and donations to support worthwhile projects that might otherwise have difficulty in finding funding. In fy25, ida's fiscal sponsorship program supported a total of 330+ projects totaling $9.8m in project support.
$9,486,780 spentof which $9,322,315 as grants$9,847,496 earned by the program73% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $13,051,633.
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 $5.0M to $8.6M (+74%).
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 0% · 2018 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 1% · 2021 3% · 2022 1% · 2023 2% · 2024 1% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
89% of INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 9 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.
Chief executive
Dominic Willsdon
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 51 funders to 92 funders, grant income rose $3.6M → $6.5M.
63 of 324 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 40% 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 INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 324 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
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% of grant income, and it takes 7 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 7 funders to its left
47% 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 INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 35% · 2018 28% · 2019 29% · 2020 21% · 2021 25% · 2022 16% · 2023 11% — 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
20% of INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 36% 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
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC draws 79% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 37 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $19M arriving through sponsors registered in 23 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
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC is better cushioned than half of the 570 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 570 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.6M on record.
- National Endowment for the Humanities$1.8M
- National Endowment for the Arts$585k
- Department of Homeland Security$193k
- Department of State$7k
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 INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
92% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
96%
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 INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY 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.
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 INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC?
- INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC (California) receives grants from 324 organizations whose IRS filings report $46,925,505 to it, the largest being JOHN D AND CATHERINE T MACARTHUR FOUNDATION ($8,829,500). 116 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 324 organizations giving $46,925,505 in grants to INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC, 116 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC?
- JOHN D AND CATHERINE T MACARTHUR FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $8,829,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC 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.
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 324 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