New York · Nonprofit
Rochester Downtown Development Corporation
Rochester Downtown Development Corporation (New York) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $370,112 to it, the largest being ESL CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($147,517). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.7M
- Funders on record
- 8
- Grants received
- $370k
- Net assets
- $2.9M
What Rochester Downtown Development Corporation does
Mission
Rochester Downtown Development Corporation drives economic vitality in Downtown Rochester through innovation and collaboration.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
In 2024 the Commissary served approximately 75 member businesses with a full-time staff of three and an independent Board of Managers.This program is primarily supported by grants and contributions.
$636,511 spent$124,147 earned by the program47% of program spendingTelling the Story of Downtown:- Crafted consistent reporting, data and market analysis, marketing, and promotion.- Maintained the @downtownrochesterny social media channels, seeing a 14% increase in followers in 2024, adding roughly 3,000 new followers. - Featured in dozens of earned media placements and press hits.(Continued on Schedule O) Downtown Activation:- Built partnerships with local event producers and the city of Rochester to bring fun-filled, positive experiences to downtown, through the production of the second annual Downtown Definitely Events and a new downtown Farmers Market. These events brought 22,000+ people downtown from June to October 2024.- Launched planning and community engagement create a plan to activate Washington Square Park in the heart of downtown with temporary seating and regular events.- Implemented a downtown welcome program with promotional materials on local amenities and attractions, discounts, and downtown swag to over 700 newcomers to downtown. - Continued promotional partnership to highlight dozens of small and local businesses as part of events.- Ran third annual seasonal dcor grant program to assist businesses with public-facing seasonal…
$667,318 spent$44,070 earned by the program50% of program spendingRDDC hosted the revived Economic Growth Series luncheons, highlighting downtown's resurgence and dynamic market, welcoming hundreds of attendees.
$43,110 spent$41,872 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: $1,346,939.
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 $481k to $2.3M (+383%).
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: 2020 79% · 2021 38% · 2022 1% · 2023 16% · 2024 15%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
92% of Rochester Downtown Development Corporation’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (61% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 8 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
Galin Brooks
President & CEO
Board chair
Steve Dubnik
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2022: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $6k → $71k.
1 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $1.4M from 3 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Rochester Downtown Partnership Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money Rochester Downtown Development Corporation raised.
From the IRS filings of Rochester Downtown Development Corporation’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
Rochester Downtown Development Corporation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 40% of grant income and the top three 87%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
33% 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 Rochester Downtown Development Corporation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 74% · 2022 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
96% of Rochester Downtown Development Corporation'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. $18k 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
Rochester Downtown Development Corporation runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 4,203 community improvement nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,203 community improvement nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding Rochester Downtown Development Corporation receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $983k on record.
- Department of Commerce$983k
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 Rochester Downtown Development Corporation
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
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
77%
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
- Rochester Commissary LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Rochester Downtown Development Corporation: 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 Rochester Downtown Development Corporation?
- Rochester Downtown Development Corporation (New York) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $370,112 to it, the largest being ESL CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($147,517). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Rochester Downtown Development Corporation have?
- IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $370,112 in grants to Rochester Downtown Development Corporation, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Rochester Downtown Development Corporation?
- ESL CHARITABLE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $147,517 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Rochester Downtown Development Corporation 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 Rochester Downtown Development →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 8 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