Arizona · Nonprofit
Release The Fear Inc
Release The Fear Inc (Arizona) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $210,938 to it, the largest being MARGARET T MORRIS FOUNDATION ($110,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2022
- $24k
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $211k
- Net assets
- $142k
What Release The Fear Inc does
Mission
The mission of the organization is to counter the effects of violence in our communities by turning Fear, Anger and Hate into Acceptance, Hope and Empowerment, by Bridging Endless Possibilities through the creative process. Vision: Inspiring & empowering kids with the tools to make better life choices. SCULPTURAL SYMBOLCreation of a sculptural symbol 24 feet in height that was erected and unveiled in May 2005 in central Phoenix made from weapons confiscated from various crimes and set aside by various law enforcement agencies in metro Phoenix. The Release The Fear sculpture symbolizes the energy of transforming the enormous weight of negativism and prejudice into the uplifting force of acceptance once we see ourselves and others as being more similar than diverse.EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS: Release the Fear has evidence-based curriculum's that use the creative processes of art, music, and communication. Highly trained facilitators teach through inquiry-based learning Character Education tool
As stated on its FY2022 Form 990-EZ.
Program
In 2022, Release the Fear was not able to work with any students. The COVID-19 Pandemic changed how the organizations RTF worked with (K-12 educational institutions and youth detention centers)operated and was not able to regain it's presence with these instiutions.COVID-19 The COVID-19 Pandemic had a huge impact on the Release the Fear programs. Because all of the RTF workshops prior to the pandemic were in-person, RTF took the time and continued to develop new evidence-based curriculum for teachers and students. They worked hard to adapt to the restrictions, and to find new ways of providing our high-quality character education that includes conflict resolution using social-emotional learning skills for underserved youth. Unfortunately, because the program had a large presentation in the juvenile detention facilities, COVID continued to prevent them from continuing the workshops. The organization attempted to provide virtual programs but the impact of the programs needed to be in person.Since 2002, Release the Fear has interacted with over 13,000 Arizona youth and families, empowering them with life skills to help them cope with many of the issues they face on a daily basis.…
The program described on its FY2022 Form 990-EZ.
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 2019 to 2020, from $395k to $253k (−36%).
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 36%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
94% of Release The Fear Inc’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (78% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 6 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.
Board chair
Rossanna Gatlin
Chairman
As listed on its FY2022 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $5k → $100k.
2 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 17% 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 Release The Fear Inc’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
Release The Fear Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 52% of grant income and the top three 93%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2020 62% · 2021 100% · 2022 99% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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
97% of Release The Fear Inc's grant income comes from Arizona funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $36k 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.
Against its field
Release The Fear Inc's funding base is broadening — from 1 funders to 2 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 14,184 arts & culture nonprofits under $100k, FY2022
Government funding Release The Fear Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $15k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$15k
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 Release The Fear 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 Arizona
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
45%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Release The Fear 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 Release The Fear Inc?
- Release The Fear Inc (Arizona) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $210,938 to it, the largest being MARGARET T MORRIS FOUNDATION ($110,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Release The Fear Inc have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $210,938 in grants to Release The Fear Inc, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Release The Fear Inc?
- MARGARET T MORRIS FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $110,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Release The Fear Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Arizona. 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 Release The Fear →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2022 (financials across 2017–2022), and the filings of 6 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