New York · Nonprofit
MAYSLES INSTITUTE INC
MAYSLES INSTITUTE INC (New York) receives grants from 53 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,303,972 to it, the largest being ARTHUR F & ARNOLD M FRANKEL FOUNDATION ($727,263). 26 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $890k
- Funders on record
- 53
- Grants received
- $4.3M
- Net assets
- $334k
What Maysles Institute Inc does
Mission
Maysles Documentary Center (MDC) is a Harlem-based nonprofit organization committed to community, education, and documentary film. We use filmmaking to amplify and expand under-represented artists and narratives, while empowering young filmmakers in creative self-expression, communicating ideas, and advocating needs.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
MEDIA IN ACTION-EDUCATION PROGRAMS: We offer diverse, year-round programming for youth and adults in Harlem, Northern Manhattan, and South Bronx communities. Our goal is to enhance community storytelling and civic engagement by providing residents with specialized knowledge in documentary filmmaking and the technical tools they need to succeed.
$282,468 spent48% of program spendingThe Screening Room at the Maysles Documentary Center, the only independent film house north of Lincoln Center in Manhattan, is dedicated to the exhibition of documentary films, and it provides programming and forum discussions at least four nights out of every week. The Cinema is committed to a democratic experience, one where filmmakers are asked to attend the screenings of their work, and audiences have the opportunity to actively engage the films and each other in post-screening forums. Coupled with its scheduled series, we encourage the programming participation of local social and cultural organizations and citizen-activists to deepen community involvement and provide exposure for under-represented social issues and overlooked artists and their work. We have forged partnerships with organizations as diverse as The National Black Programming Consortium, the New Museum, and the Harlem Historic Parks Association, to name a few. Our suggested-donation ticket model allows for everyone to engage in our programming, regardless of his or her ability to pay. As a result of steady growth in attendance we have recently added capacity to accommodate our frequent overflow audiences.
$298,421 spent51% of program spendingOur fiscal sponsorship program, which extends our 501(c)(3) non-profit status to filmmakers for fundraising purposes, has been a growing success. The program is designed for emerging and early career filmmakers, and priority is given to individuals who have traditionally been denied industry access and fundraising opportunities.
$7,855 spent1% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $588,744.
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 2022 to 2023, from $75k to $276k (+270%).
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 16% · 2018 16% · 2019 13% · 2020 25% · 2021 24% · 2022 18% · 2023 14% · 2024 15% · 2025 28%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
74% of MAYSLES INSTITUTE INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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
Kazembe Balagun
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 12 funders to 21 funders, grant income rose $464k → $673k.
8 of 53 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 13% 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 MAYSLES INSTITUTE INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 53 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
MAYSLES INSTITUTE INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 17% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
27% 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 MAYSLES INSTITUTE INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 57% · 2018 57% · 2019 51% · 2020 27% · 2021 26% · 2022 24% · 2023 15% — 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
46% of MAYSLES INSTITUTE INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 49% 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
72% of MAYSLES INSTITUTE INC's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $548k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
MAYSLES INSTITUTE INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 12,262 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 12,262 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Government funding MAYSLES INSTITUTE INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $10k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$10k
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 MAYSLES INSTITUTE 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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
71% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 MAYSLES INSTITUTE 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 MAYSLES INSTITUTE INC?
- MAYSLES INSTITUTE INC (New York) receives grants from 53 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,303,972 to it, the largest being ARTHUR F & ARNOLD M FRANKEL FOUNDATION ($727,263). 26 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MAYSLES INSTITUTE INC have?
- IRS filings report 53 organizations giving $4,303,972 in grants to MAYSLES INSTITUTE INC, 26 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MAYSLES INSTITUTE INC?
- ARTHUR F & ARNOLD M FRANKEL FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $727,263 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MAYSLES INSTITUTE INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 Maysles Institute →
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 53 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