New York · Nonprofit
RISING ARTIST FOUNDATION INC
RISING ARTIST FOUNDATION INC (New York) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $191,468 to it, the largest being FLORA L THORNTON FOUNDATION ($98,500). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $89k
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $191k
- Net assets
- $19k
What Rising Artist Foundation Inc does
Mission
The rising artist foundation elevates a broad spectrum of voices in american music. The organization fosters creative and professional growth in the early stages of a musician's career to nurture uncompromising artistic expression.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
Office hours: this was a free, in-person monthly panel series alternating between new york city and los angeles. Each session addressed a different topic within the music industry, providing practical insights and guidance. The objective was to educate young, aspiring musicians and empower them to make informed business decisions throughout their careers.
$0 spentGo book yourself!:this weekly virtual program provided musicians with essential knowledge on building a touring career. Participants from across the country learned how to book and promote shows, manage payments, and develop professional networks. The program served as both an educational tool and a platform for peer-to-peer connection.
$0 spentFourth river is a new, large-scale initiative scheduled to launch in pittsburgh, pa in 2025. Over the past year, we've worked to develop this program, which will provide grants and creative instruction to a selected group of local musicians. Additionally, music industry professionals from nyc and la will participate in public panel discussions on key industry topics, helping bridge regional gaps in access and opportunity.
$0 spent
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $0.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2022, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2022, 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 2023 to 2024, from $72k to $17k (−76%).
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.
100% of RISING ARTIST FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (78% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 4 reported years ran a deficit.
Leadership and staff
Chief executive
Benjamin Rafson
President/CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2021 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $20k → $52k.
1 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 42% 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 RISING ARTIST FOUNDATION 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
RISING ARTIST FOUNDATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 51% of grant income and the top three 97%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
45% 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 RISING ARTIST FOUNDATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2021 68% · 2022 71% · 2023 48% — 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.
Where its funders are
RISING ARTIST FOUNDATION INC draws 94% of its grant income from funders outside New York, across 4 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $80k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
RISING ARTIST FOUNDATION INC's funding base is broadening — from 2 funders to 4 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 10,242 arts & culture nonprofits under $100k, FY2025
Organizations like RISING ARTIST FOUNDATION 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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
100%
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 RISING ARTIST FOUNDATION 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 RISING ARTIST FOUNDATION INC?
- RISING ARTIST FOUNDATION INC (New York) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $191,468 to it, the largest being FLORA L THORNTON FOUNDATION ($98,500). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does RISING ARTIST FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $191,468 in grants to RISING ARTIST FOUNDATION INC, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of RISING ARTIST FOUNDATION INC?
- FLORA L THORNTON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $98,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like RISING ARTIST FOUNDATION INC 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.
Play a game about who funds Rising Artist →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2022–2025), and the filings of 5 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