Maryland · Nonprofit
OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INC
OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INC (Maryland) receives grants from 34 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,135,910 to it, the largest being ARTS AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL OF MONTGOMER ($3,677,052). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 80% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $19M
- Funders on record
- 34
- Grants received
- $7.1M
- Net assets
- $37M
What Olney Theatre Corporation Inc does
Mission
The corporation's objectives are the promotion and production of theatrical works, through the presentation of original, classical and experimental play in public and private theatres and auditoriums.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Olney theatre operates four stages in montgomery county, md. Each season is selected to appeal to a broad audience. Seasons feature 7-9 productions, including world and american premieres and imaginative retellings of well-known plays and musicals. Complementing these productions, olney theatre presents the work of other theater companies located in the mid-atlantic region and across the world. The theatre also curates up to 50 free and low-cost engagement events annually that enhance community connections and appreciation for the arts.
$6,696,710 spent$5,659,713 earned by the program93% of program spendingA core component of olney theatre's mission is to educate and train the next generation of theater-makers and audiences. The apprentice training program provides mentorship and hands-on professional experience for up to 16 early-career theater-makers annually. Additionally, full-time education staff and contracted teaching artists implement a range of programs for k-12 students that develop creative, communication, problem-solving, and social-emotional skills. These programs include in-school workshops and residencies and out-of-school theater camps.
$303,402 spent$256,420 earned by the program4% of program spendingOlney theatre center's summertime series, olney outdoors, is performed, on the outdoor root family stage at omi's pavilion. Incorporating local and national acts, the program includes broadway and television stars, locally known and emerging stage performers, nationally and internationally acclaimed tribute bands, concert-versions of new and classic musicals, cabaret salutes to popular music artists, sing alongs, princess parties, petting zoos, and drag shows. Olney theatre's annual free, all-day, open house, "summerfest," occurs during olney outdoors.
$226,698 spent$191,593 earned by the program3% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,226,810.
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 $8.4M to $19M (+121%).
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 18% · 2018 12% · 2019 10% · 2020 14% · 2021 49% · 2022 40% · 2023 25% · 2024 31% · 2025 37%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
66% of OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INC’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. 0 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
Debbie Ellinghaus
Executive director
Board chair
Linda Rosenzweig
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 17 funders, grant income rose $327k → $884k.
11 of 34 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 80% 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 OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 34 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
OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 52% of grant income and the top three 77%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
82% 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 OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 81% · 2018 88% · 2019 86% · 2020 70% · 2021 46% · 2022 62% · 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
57% of OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 71% 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
80% of OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION 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 $1.4M that is directly attributable, 76% of it comes from funders outside Maryland, across 12 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.7M 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
OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters 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 OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.8M on record — $310k federal, $2.5M state.
- National Endowment for the Arts$310k
- Grant$2.5M
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 OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION 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 Maryland
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
95%
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
- Olney Theatre Center for the Arts Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION 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 OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INC?
- OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INC (Maryland) receives grants from 34 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,135,910 to it, the largest being ARTS AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL OF MONTGOMER ($3,677,052). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 80% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 34 organizations giving $7,135,910 in grants to OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INC, 24 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INC?
- ARTS AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL OF MONTGOMER is the largest funder on record, with $3,677,052 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like OLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 Olney Theatre →
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 34 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