California · Nonprofit
SOMArts
SOMArts (California) receives grants from 36 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,412,845 to it, the largest being THE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION ($633,279). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 65% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.8M
- Funders on record
- 36
- Grants received
- $2.4M
- Net assets
- $889k
What SOMArts does
Mission
SOMArts leverages the power of art as a tool for social change through multi-disciplinary events and exhibitions. Equipping artists with space, mentorship, and the support they need to shift perspectives and innovate solutions, SOMArts fosters access to arts and culture for collective liberation and self-determination.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Fiscal SponsorshipsSOMARTS PROVIDES FISCAL SPONSORSHIPS FOR VARIOUS ARTISTS AND EMERGING ORGANIZATIONS, enabling a breadth of fundraising opportunities that would not be available without such sponsorship. THESE ARTISTS AND ORGANIZATIONS RECEIVE financial management services,GRANT-WRITING ASSISTANCE, AND operational support.
$1,336,815 spentof which $352,762 as grants56% of program spendingEvent Rental ProgramHISTORICALLY, SOMARTS TYPICALLY HELPS PRODUCE OVER 90 EVENTS PER YEAR. DURING THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2022 the program began to welcome back clients to our space and the organization helped produce 26 events for other nonprofits and mission-aligned groups.
$520,221 spent22% of program spendingExhibition programs (gallery)SOMArts produces and supports a dynamic range of exhibitions in support of itsmission to promote art on the community level and foster an appreciation of andrespect for all cultures. This includes six large-scale exhibitions each year inaddition to providing guidance, technical, and publicity support for two to three exhibitions awarded through the curatorial residency program, along with 15-20exhibitions annually through the community-curated ramp gallery. SOMArts annuallyproduces over 20 exhibition-related cultural learning and art-making events including talks, performances, and workshops.
$515,845 spent21% of program spendingClasses, Curatorial Residency, and otherSOMArts annually supports 2-3 emerging curators in producing their own exhibition, selected through an open call for proposals. Attendance for these exhibitions is free and online/virtual gallery attendance through the SOMArts website is also available.
$31,743 spent1% of program spendingDay of the DeadDia de los Muertos offers a dynamic, free, five-week exhibition annually based on a theme with references to issues of cultural identity and social justice locally and globally.
SOMArts occupies space in San Francisco under a lease agreement with the City and County of San Francisco through its Arts Commission (SFAC). The leasing arrangement has been in effect for over 40 years and is subject to annual renewal for a fee of $1. SFAC provides approximately 25,000 square feet of pro-bono facilities and related utilities to SOMArts and the value of this space amounted to $728,018 for the year ended June 30, 2025. The estimated value of the occupied space is based on comparable rent figures obtained from a report issued by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors which provides data on lease rates available for nonprofit organizations.
The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,404,624.
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 $1.8M to $1.4M (−23%).
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 57% · 2021 78% · 2022 80% · 2023 67% · 2024 70% · 2025 63%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
88% of SOMArts’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% 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
Maria Jenson
Exec Director
Board chair
Trisha Lagaso Goldberg
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 15 funders, grant income rose $158k → $449k.
12 of 36 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 65% 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 SOMArts’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 36 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
SOMArts has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 26% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
68% 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 SOMArts.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 63% · 2018 40% · 2019 82% · 2020 59% · 2021 43% · 2022 26% · 2023 19% — 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
31% of SOMArts's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 47% 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
65% of SOMArts'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 $848k that is directly attributable, 70% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
SOMArts is better cushioned than half of the 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding SOMArts receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $140k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$140k
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 SOMArts
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
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
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 SOMArts: 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 SOMArts?
- SOMArts (California) receives grants from 36 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,412,845 to it, the largest being THE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION ($633,279). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 65% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SOMArts have?
- IRS filings report 36 organizations giving $2,412,845 in grants to SOMArts, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SOMArts?
- THE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $633,279 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SOMArts 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.
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 36 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing