California · Nonprofit
PUBLIC DESIGN STUDIO
PUBLIC DESIGN STUDIO (California) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $308,805 to it, the largest being THE GREATER CINCINNATI FOUNDATION ($261,300). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 85% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2018
- $224k
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $309k
- Net assets
- $-365447
What Public Design Studio does
Mission
- public architecture provides the knowledge and network necessary to leverage the design of the built environment as a tool for social gain.
As stated on its FY2018 Form 990.
Program
Cities+: technical assistance program leverages public architecture's expertise in design and innovative solutions to create self-directed design projects of broad social relevance through a combination of prototypical design and advocacy efforts; we also work with nonprofits and socially responsible clients to develop design strategies and resources that address their needs and enable them to better achieve their missions.
The first program described on its most recent Form 990, which lists programs largest first by expense.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2017 to 2018, from $44k to $35k (−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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 2 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
2017 → 2020: the base narrowed from 2 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $38k → $5.
2 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 85% 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 PUBLIC DESIGN STUDIO’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
PUBLIC DESIGN STUDIO leans on a few funders — its largest provides 85% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
89% 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 PUBLIC DESIGN STUDIO.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 67% · 2018 95% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% — 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.
Where its funders are
85% of PUBLIC DESIGN STUDIO'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 $48k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside California, across 2 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $261k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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.
Organizations like PUBLIC DESIGN STUDIO
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
64% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
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 PUBLIC DESIGN STUDIO: 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 PUBLIC DESIGN STUDIO?
- PUBLIC DESIGN STUDIO (California) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $308,805 to it, the largest being THE GREATER CINCINNATI FOUNDATION ($261,300). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 85% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does PUBLIC DESIGN STUDIO have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $308,805 in grants to PUBLIC DESIGN STUDIO, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PUBLIC DESIGN STUDIO?
- THE GREATER CINCINNATI FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $261,300 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PUBLIC DESIGN STUDIO find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Public Design Studio →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2018 (financials across 2017–2018), and the filings of 4 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