New York · Nonprofit
NATIONAL INDEPENDENT VENUE FOUNDATION
NATIONAL INDEPENDENT VENUE FOUNDATION (New York) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $903,595 to it, the largest being Gerald L Lennard Foundation Inc ($215,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $605k
- Funders on record
- 26
- Grants received
- $904k
- Net assets
- $907k
What National Independent Venue Foundation does
Mission
The mission of the National Independent Venue Foundation (nivf) is to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent live performance venues and promoters throughout the united states by supporting a transparent, competitive marketplace serving a diverse and inclusive community of artists, fans, and industry workers.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Emergency relief fund: nivf administers an emergency relief fund that provides economic relief to independent live performance venues and promoters across the united states experiencing a critically severe emergency due to circumstances beyond their control. This work was born out of the covid-19 crisis but carries on as a critical safety net for the independent spaces and workers who serve as the hubs and incubators for creative culture in the united states. Emergency relief fund work has also expanded to include proactive planning and support measures, such as the weather emergency resource listing.
$198,875 spentof which $184,500 as grants$268,107 earned by the program43% of program spendingWorkforce development: creating and sharing resources for independent venues and promoters, and supporting community engagement and education efforts remain core to the foundation's mission. Nivf has delivered over 45 free virtual workforce development sessions serving 5,000+ registered attendees representing live entertainment organizations. To date, the venue operations experience (vox) has supported 63 participants through certification, mentorship, and paid internships; in 2025, 86% of cohort members secured employment in live entertainment. The nivf training hub served 3,700+ users, and 3,600 job seekers and employers utilized the independent venue job board. In partnership with the drake business innovation hub at drake university's zimpleman college of business, nivf launched a state funding resource database, which received 2,200+ visits since launch.
$193,554 spent$71,846 earned by the program42% of program spendingOther programs: the nivf conference travel grant program provided up to a $500 travel reimbursement for flight or estimated fuel costs to drive to the niva '25 conference held in june 2025. The reimbursement grants were funded by a generous donor and were provided to those in need of financial assistance for travel to attend the conference. In addition, nivf once again partnered with calling all crows' #hereforthemusic program to present an interactive workshop at the niva '25 conference, equipping venue managers with the tools to train their teams on workplace sexual harassment laws, policies, and protocols. Participants gained practical strategies to confidently deliver sensitive content, navigate challenging questions, and foster a culture of safety and respect within their venues.
$66,169 spentof which $57,321 as grants$65,040 earned by the program14% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $458,598.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 2021 to 2022, from $1.0M to $1.5M (+52%).
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: 2024 0% · 2025 11%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
96% of NATIONAL INDEPENDENT VENUE FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 5 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
2020 → 2023: the base narrowed from 5 funders to 3 funders, grant income fell $74k → $26k.
9 of 26 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 26% 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 NATIONAL INDEPENDENT VENUE FOUNDATION’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
NATIONAL INDEPENDENT VENUE FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 24% 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
38% 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 NATIONAL INDEPENDENT VENUE FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 68% · 2021 25% · 2022 33% · 2023 57% — 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 NATIONAL INDEPENDENT VENUE FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 19% 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
NATIONAL INDEPENDENT VENUE FOUNDATION draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside New York, across 13 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $236k arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
NATIONAL INDEPENDENT VENUE FOUNDATION holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like NATIONAL INDEPENDENT VENUE FOUNDATION
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
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 26 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NATIONAL INDEPENDENT VENUE FOUNDATION: 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 NATIONAL INDEPENDENT VENUE FOUNDATION?
- NATIONAL INDEPENDENT VENUE FOUNDATION (New York) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $903,595 to it, the largest being Gerald L Lennard Foundation Inc ($215,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does NATIONAL INDEPENDENT VENUE FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 26 organizations giving $903,595 in grants to NATIONAL INDEPENDENT VENUE FOUNDATION, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NATIONAL INDEPENDENT VENUE FOUNDATION?
- Gerald L Lennard Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $215,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NATIONAL INDEPENDENT VENUE FOUNDATION 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.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), and the filings of 26 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