New York · Nonprofit
NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL (New York) receives grants from 491 organizations whose IRS filings report $120,459,554 to it, the largest being LUESTHER T MERTZ CHARITABLE TRUST ($24,005,000). 303 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $72M
- Funders on record
- 491
- Grants received
- $120M
- Net assets
- $150M
What New York Shakespeare Festival does
Mission
As the nation's foremost producer of shakespeare and new work, the public theater is dedicated to achieving artistic excellence while developing an american theater that is accessible and relevant to all people through productions of challenging new plays, musicals and innovative stagings of the classics.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
In 2024, New York Shakespeare Festival commenced a major capital project involving the rebuild of the delacorte theater, home of shakespeare in the park. Construction was substantially completed in 2025, with inaugural performances marking the return of shakespeare in the park in the newly constructed delacorte theater. In 2025, New York Shakespeare Festival formally dissolved its subsidiary, shakespeare society, and integrated all operations into the parent organization.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Annual seasonthe public theater's flagship season at 425 lafayette street and astor place features a diverse lineup of new plays, musicals, shakespeare, and other classics across five theaters. Programming engages audiences, both onstage and off, with some of today's most important ideas and social issues. Highlights of the 2024-25 season include three north american premieres: counting and cracking written by s. Shakthidharan and presented in partnership with nyu skirball; deep history by david finnigan; and glass. Kill. What if if only. Imp. By caryl churchill. The season also featured two new york premieres: good bones by james ijames and sumo by lisa sanaye dring, the latter presented in partnership with ma-yi theatre company. In addition, gatz returned with elevator repair service for its final new york city production.
$17,300,992 spent$5,912,707 earned by the program44% of program spendingFree shakespeare in the parkfree shakespeare in the park at the delacorte theater exemplifies the public's mission to provide world-class productions at no cost. Since its launch, more than 6 million people have attended over 160 productions, featuring performances by both rising and renowned artists. Tickets are distributed free of charge across all five boroughs through a variety of access-focused methods. In 2025, following an 18-month hiatus for a complete revitalization of the delacorte theater, free shakespeare in the park returned to central park with an all-star production of twelfth night.
$5,950,841 spent15% of program spendingJoe's pubjoe's pub reflects the diversity of its community through a wide range of performances in music, film, and dance. The venue presents approximately 700 shows annually to more than 100,000 people and has hosted over 18,000 performances by grammy award winners, broadway stars, and emerging artists across numerous genres. The 24/25 season featured nightly performances by both returning and new artists, including patti smith, cameron winter, tanya tagaq, justin vivian bond, sarah jones, mathis picard, gianmarco soresi, charlene kaye, youngmi mayer, and sandra bernhard. In 2024, joe's pub hosted its fourth annual habibi festival, a week-long celebration of middle eastern and north african artists. Vanguard resident artist margaret cho curated a quarterly series that culminated in a performance at the annual joe's pub gala.
$7,560,742 spent$3,587,559 earned by the program19% of program spendingCivic artistic programscivic artistic programs is the public's hub for expanding access, fostering civic engagement, and advancing community-focused artistic innovation by building meaningful connections with community organizations and their members.the mobile unitthe mobile unit reaches past economic and geographic barriers to the arts by meeting communities where they are, staging theater productions and programs at no cost in local neighborhood venues and spaces across nyc's five boroughs. In 2025, the mobile unit presented a bi-lingual adaptation of much ado about nothing by julian mesri and rebecca martinez.public workspublic works aims to restore and build community by connecting people through the creation of extraordinary works of art. In 2025, public works presented a free concert experience of pericles, conceived by troy anthony, involving hundreds of community members and presented at the cathedral of st. John the divine. Additionally, public works provided year-round programming through weekly classes, monthly gatherings, workshops, and access to performances. These activities were offered in partnership with eight long-standing organizations: children's aid…
$8,683,751 spentof which $32,805 as grants$426,122 earned by the program22% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $39,496,326.
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 2024 to 2025, from $175M to $211M (+21%).
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 2% · 2018 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 2% · 2021 22% · 2022 18% · 2023 7% · 2024 3% · 2025 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
69% of NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
Patrick Willingham
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 117 funders to 196 funders, grant income rose $7.3M → $13M.
43 of 491 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 24% 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 NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 491 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 YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% of grant income, and it takes 8 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 8 funders to its left
28% 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 YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 29% · 2018 21% · 2019 13% · 2020 31% · 2021 48% · 2022 11% · 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
44% of NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
68% of NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL'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. $29M arriving through sponsors registered in 21 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 YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL runs a healthier operating margin 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 NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.5M on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$995k
- Department of the Interior$500k
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 YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
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
72% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
78%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 16 states
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- The Shakespeare Society of America Inc · exempt
- Public Theater Productions · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL: 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 YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL?
- NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL (New York) receives grants from 491 organizations whose IRS filings report $120,459,554 to it, the largest being LUESTHER T MERTZ CHARITABLE TRUST ($24,005,000). 303 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL have?
- IRS filings report 491 organizations giving $120,459,554 in grants to NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL, 303 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL?
- LUESTHER T MERTZ CHARITABLE TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $24,005,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 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 2017–2025), and the filings of 491 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