Arizona · Nonprofit
SCOTTSDALE ARTS
SCOTTSDALE ARTS (Arizona) receives grants from 56 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,360,642 to it, the largest being Virginia G Piper Charitable Trust ($2,215,000). 33 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $13M
- Funders on record
- 56
- Grants received
- $5.4M
- Net assets
- $21M
What Scottsdale Arts does
Mission
To create arts in diverse experiences that engage the community though the development of new and exciting cultural initiatives for the community; the encouragement of active participation and cooperation of the government, business, education and (continued on schedule o) private sectors; and the providing of quality management, fundraising, and financial services to our operating divisions and other arts organizations desiring our services.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Located in the heart of scottsdale, arizona, the scottsdale center for the performing arts showcases a vibrant array of artistic performances and events. As a part of the Scottsdale Arts district, it hosts an eclectic mix of music, dance, theater, and visual arts, enriching the community with diverse cultural experiences. With its state-of-the-art facilities, including the virginia g. Piper theater and the new east bowl stage in the civic center, Scottsdale Arts attracts renowned artists from around the world while also nurturing local talent.
$4,625,275 spentof which $70,000 as grants$2,988,269 earned by the program45% of program spendingScottsdale museum of contemporary art (smoca) is an accredited and internationally recognized institution that encourages reflections and conversations about life through art. We produce and mediate creative expressions that lead to shared curiosity and meaning across a wide range of publics.
$1,705,958 spentof which $10,500 as grants$171,740 earned by the program17% of program spendingTo enhance the cultural environment of the city of scottsdale, scottsdale public art (spa) initiated, installed, and maintained major permanent and temporary art installations at numerous public locations. Spa also provided free events, exhibitions, and workshops attended by over 257,000 people. Spa's 160+ permanent public art installations are viewed by an estimated 20,000 people daily year-round.
$1,299,993 spent$137,392 earned by the program13% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$2,554,625 spentof which $70,500 as grants$137,391 earned by the program25% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $10,185,851.
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 2023 to 2024, from $14M to $26M (+79%).
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 46% · 2018 46% · 2019 58% · 2020 64% · 2021 79% · 2022 54% · 2023 57% · 2024 29% · 2025 50%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
65% of SCOTTSDALE ARTS’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. 4 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
Gerd Wuestermann
President & CEO
Board chair
Stephanie Lyon
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2023 and FY2024, and between the FY2024 and FY2025 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 12 funders to 22 funders, grant income rose $209k → $592k.
13 of 56 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 25% 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 SCOTTSDALE ARTS’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 56 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
SCOTTSDALE ARTS leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% of grant income and the top three 73%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
32% 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 SCOTTSDALE ARTS.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 31% · 2018 29% · 2019 45% · 2020 40% · 2021 57% · 2022 78% · 2023 26% — 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
32% of SCOTTSDALE ARTS's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% 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
94% of SCOTTSDALE ARTS's grant income comes from Arizona funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 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
SCOTTSDALE ARTS is better cushioned than half of the 550 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 550 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding SCOTTSDALE ARTS receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $305k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$230k
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$75k
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 SCOTTSDALE ARTS
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.
Where the money goes
71% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
78%
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 SCOTTSDALE ARTS: 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 SCOTTSDALE ARTS?
- SCOTTSDALE ARTS (Arizona) receives grants from 56 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,360,642 to it, the largest being Virginia G Piper Charitable Trust ($2,215,000). 33 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SCOTTSDALE ARTS have?
- IRS filings report 56 organizations giving $5,360,642 in grants to SCOTTSDALE ARTS, 33 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SCOTTSDALE ARTS?
- Virginia G Piper Charitable Trust is the largest funder on record, with $2,215,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SCOTTSDALE ARTS 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.
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 56 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