California · Nonprofit
KQED INC
KQED INC (California) receives grants from 732 organizations whose IRS filings report $186,470,299 to it, the largest being CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING ($65,790,672). 508 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $121M
- Funders on record
- 732
- Grants received
- $186M
- Net assets
- $351M
What Kqed Inc does
Mission
See schedule okqed serves the people of northern california with a community-supported alternative to commercial media, providing the knowledge needed to make informed decisions; convening community dialogue; bringing the arts to everyone; and engaging audiences to share their stories. Kqed helps students and teachers thrive in 21st-century classrooms and takes people of all ages on journeys of exploration exposing them to new people, places and ideas.kqed's visionto produce a powerful shared sense of place for the bay area.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Multiplatform content - news, arts and science: see schedule okqed's content teams develop news and programming that complements distributed content from our national media partners, including npr and pbs. Focusing on regional news, arts & culture, education and science, kqed develops coverage and content for distribution across our radio and television channels, as well as digital platforms, including our website (kqed.org), mobile app, social media channels, and third-party podcast and video distribution platforms.early in the fiscal year (fall 2024), kqed provided multiplatform resources for san francisco bay area voters in the general election, including an expanded digital voter guide in both english and spanish. In fy25, kqed video series productions included deep look, the award-winning science series from kqed and pbs digital studios that examines nature's smallest creatures using macro photography and microscopy in 4k resolution, and original food programs jacques pepin cooking at home, jacques pepin celebrates, and no crumbs. The video production unit also supported the video version of the forum radio series, the hyphenacion podcast series, and the long-running…
$32,234,419 spent$2,805,326 earned by the program43% of program spendingTelevision: see schedule okqed 9 and kqed plus are among the nation's most-watched public television stations with an average of approximately 470,000 weekly viewers in the san francisco-oakland-san jose market. Kqed owns and operates public television stations kqed-tv/dt channel 9 (san francisco), kqeh-tv/dt channel 54 (san jose) and kqet-tv/dt channel 25 (watsonville/monterey).kqed's digital television channels include kqed 9, kqed plus, kqed world and pbs kids, and are available 24/7 over the air and on cable. Additionally, the kqed 9 livestream is available on the station's website and mobile app. Since first going on the air in 1954, kqed has been an integral part of the bay area's media and cultural landscape. The station produces its own unique content and collaborates with filmmakers and documentary producers to present independent programming. Kqed public television is committed to producing, co-producing and presenting content that serves the people of northern california and beyond. In fy25, kqed broadcast the first half of the 20th season of check, please! Bay area, where ordinary local diners review their favorite restaurants.
$18,759,073 spent$1,330,373 earned by the program25% of program spendingFm radio: see schedule okqed public radio is among the most-listened-to public radio stations in the nation, with an average of nearly 700,000 weekly radio listeners in the san francisco metro survey area.kqed owns and operates kqed public radio 88.5 fm san francisco and 89.3 fm sacramento. Its award-winning news and public affairs program service can be heard on 88.5 fm or comcast channel 960 in san francisco, kqed 89.3 fm in sacramento, 88.3 fm in santa rosa and 88.1 fm in martinez.kqed public radio broadcasts many programs from npr, as well as from other national and international distributors like prx and bbc radio. Kqed public radio also produces a significant number of local series, including the daily public affairs program forum; the weekly political news and interview program political breakdown; and the daily statewide news program the california report, which along with its weekend counterpart the california report magazine are distributed to several other public media across the state. In addition, kqed public radio produces and distributes 18 local news reports each week day; 15 news reports saturdays; and 13 news reports on sundays. Public radio presents locally…
$10,151,838 spent$6,650,900 earned by the program13% of program spendingKqed's digital projects and services include maintaining kqed's website kqed.org, the kqed mobile app, and developing content and applications for owned and third-party digital platforms, smart speakers and mobile devices; kqed.org hosts online services for kqed public television, kqed public radio and kqed educational services; and serves as a community convener, providing kqed live event listings, resources, crosswords, podcasts, blogs and other items of timely interest. Kqed.org functions as one of kqed's media platforms, delivering content specifically acquired and produced for the web. Kqed.org reaches approximately 1,300,000 unique website users. Kqed also manages 43 social media accounts on platforms that include instagram, facebook, linkedin, x, tiktok, threads, and bluesky. Kqed also regularly delivers 16 email newsletter series, which deliver news, content, games, and promotions. Kqed produced a total of 65 live public events in fy25, which took place at kqed's headquarters and in other bay area venues. Most events were made available for digital streaming as well. Some highlights from our fy25 include kqed fest, an all-day open house and block party that welcomed at…
$14,325,601 spent$1,599,915 earned by the program19% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $75,470,931.
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 $305M to $338M (+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 3% · 2018 7% · 2019 6% · 2020 8% · 2021 14% · 2022 8% · 2023 6% · 2024 7% · 2025 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
82% of KQED INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (56% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 237 funders to 316 funders, grant income rose $14M → $19M.
52 of 732 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 28% 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: $18M from 17 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Silicon Valley Community Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money KQED INC raised.
From the IRS filings of KQED INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 732 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
KQED INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 35% 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
65% 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 KQED INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 44% · 2018 44% · 2019 29% · 2020 26% · 2021 36% · 2022 35% · 2023 37% — 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
54% of KQED INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% 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
KQED INC draws 56% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 34 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $52M arriving through sponsors registered in 20 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
KQED INC is better cushioned than half of the 43 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 43 arts & culture nonprofits over $100M, FY2025
Government funding KQED INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $4.0M on record.
- National Science Foundation$2.8M
- Department of Education$1.1M
- National Endowment for the Arts$20k
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 KQED 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
68% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 37 states
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Snap Studios LLC · disregarded
- Charitable Remainder Unitrust (14) · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for KQED 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 KQED INC?
- KQED INC (California) receives grants from 732 organizations whose IRS filings report $186,470,299 to it, the largest being CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING ($65,790,672). 508 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does KQED INC have?
- IRS filings report 732 organizations giving $186,470,299 in grants to KQED INC, 508 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of KQED INC?
- CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING is the largest funder on record, with $65,790,672 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like KQED 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.
Play a game about who funds Kqed →
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 732 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