Connecticut · Nonprofit
NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC
NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC (Connecticut) receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,016,088 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR GREATER NEW HAVEN ($2,433,456). 32 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 FY2025
- $2.5M
- Funders on record
- 43
- Grants received
- $5.0M
- Net assets
- $4.6M
What New Haven Symphony Orchestra Inc does
Mission
The new haven symphony orchestra enriches connecticut's cultural landscape through exceptional performances and education programs that are accessible to residents from all walks of life. Innovative programming offered statewide inspires deeper audience engagement and meaningful artistic and educational collaborations which increase the reach and impact of the symphony. Authentic commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion, and access move the nhso to provide representation that reflects the richly diverse communities we serve in all areas of symphony leadership.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Classics series: in the 2024-25 season, the nhso performed mainstage orchestra concerts at woolsey hall at yale university, the john c. Lyman center for the performing arts at southern connecticut state university, st. Mary's church, shelton high school, and shelton intermediate school.music director perry so celebrated his first season as the nhso's music director with concerts like danzas sinfonicas that included latin grammy-winner trumpeter pacho flores; a reimagining of beethoven's only ballet, the creatures of prometheus, with spoken word poetry performed by new haven's poet laureate sharmont little; candlelight concerts; and the new haven premiere of nathaniel dett's oratorio, the ordering of moses. Pieces played came from the musical repertoire of, ludwig van beethoven, johannes brahms, unsuk chin, gabriela lena frank, daniel freiberg, alberto ginastera, joseph haydn, arturo marquez, ottorino respighi, silvestre revueltas, nikolai rimsky-korsakov, clara schumann, antonio vivaldi, ralph vaughan williams, du yun.
$1,008,435 spent$287,606 earned by the program48% of program spendingPops series: the nhso's venerable pops series concerts began in 1945 at the new haven arena and have featured such esteemed artists as dave brubeck, judy collins, dizzy gillespie, benny goodman, marvin hamlisch, skitch henderson, wynton marsalis, dudley moore, buddy rich, doc severinson, artie shaw, james taylor, and sarah vaughan.principal pops conductor chelsea tipton, ii led the symphony's popular holiday extravaganza as well as it's magic! Joan ellison swings in high fidelity. The pops series, which held programs at lyman center at scsu and shelton high school, concluded with a new show created in collaboration with video game funk-fusion band discocactus.
$351,300 spent$133,453 earned by the program17% of program spendingEducation programs:the new haven symphony orchestra's comprehensive education programs annually bring orchestral music to children throughout the state of connecticut. Innovative education programs include:family concert series designed exclusively for small ensembles that allow for an intimate and interactive experience, the nhso offered two family concert programs, each performed in multiple neighborhoods and regional venues with nhso offering a sensory-friendly performance of each program. 2024-2025 offerings included a new orleans summer swing concert with nhso brass players, and an exploration of the animal kingdom with the program three little pigs and anansi the spider.young people's concerts young people's concerts have brought full orchestra performances to publicschool children for more than 90 years. These performances are produced in partnership with public schools across the state. The nhso welcomes thousands of young listeners to concerts designed expressly for elementary and middle school students, supported by an extensive curriculum guide that supports state and national teaching standards. Many of the schools host pre-concert visits to their classrooms by nhso…
$328,792 spent$59,818 earned by the program16% of program spendingHarmony fellowship for underrepresented musicians, conductors, arts administrators, and board leadersthe nhso's harmony fellowships , originally funded by the ann & gordon getty foundation through the league of american orchestras, provide vital early career support to instrumentalists, conductors, arts administrative, and board fellows, bringing increased diversity to all areas of the symphony.the instrumental fellowship accepts a cohort of two musicians from underrepresented backgrounds every year for a two-year fellowship. Fellows receive lessons, participate in professional development such as mock auditions, and have the opportunity to play concerts with the orchestra. At the end of the two-year fellowship, each fellow will be invited to any future opportunity to audition for the nhso and past fellows have won spots on the nhso substitute listeach cohort, along with two nhso orchestra members, forms one of two harmony quartets. The harmony quartets are integral to nhso education programs that focus on resilience and conflict resolution. Conducting fellows receive mentorship from music director perry so and principal pops conductor chelsea tipton while administrative and board…
$427,244 spent20% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,115,771.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 $3.3M to $4.2M (+28%).
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: 2018 4% · 2019 4% · 2020 7% · 2021 23% · 2022 25% · 2023 6% · 2024 5% · 2025 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
77% of NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 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
Elaine Carroll
CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 15 funders to 24 funders, grant income rose $168k → $1.6M.
9 of 43 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.
Left out of every figure on this page: $242k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Nhso Foundation Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC raised.
From the IRS filings of NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 43 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
NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 49% of grant income and the top three 70%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
61% 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 NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 24% · 2018 41% · 2019 27% · 2020 38% · 2021 31% · 2022 32% · 2023 81% — growing more concentrated.
“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
52% of NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 74% 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
53% of NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC'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 $2.4M that is directly attributable, 67% of it comes from funders outside Connecticut, across 11 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.5M on record — $234k federal, $1.3M state.
- National Endowment for the Arts$234k
- State Aid Grants$839k
- Pass thru Grant Non-State$451k
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 NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 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 Connecticut
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
65%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Nhso Foundation Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 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 NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC?
- NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC (Connecticut) receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,016,088 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR GREATER NEW HAVEN ($2,433,456). 32 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 NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC have?
- IRS filings report 43 organizations giving $5,016,088 in grants to NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC, 32 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC?
- THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR GREATER NEW HAVEN is the largest funder on record, with $2,433,456 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Connecticut. 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 New Haven Symphony Orchestra →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2018–2025), and the filings of 43 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