Massachusetts · Nonprofit
Spark Newton Corporation
Spark Newton Corporation (Massachusetts) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $234,646 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($77,255). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $230k
- Funders on record
- 16
- Grants received
- $235k
- Net assets
- $289k
What Spark Newton Corporation does
Mission
Founded in 1989, Spark Newton is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to build community through free arts and culture events, engaging public art, and enlivened public spaces.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Fiscal Sponsorship - Providing administrative and fundraising support for small organizations within the city who promote various art and cultural activities for the citizens of Newton.
$36,622 spent$34,732 earned by the program38% of program spendingFestivals - Coordination of multiple arts related events throughout the year.
$29,921 spent31% of program spendingFinancial Support for City of Newton - Direct financial support for free community programming including Artful Piano Project, summer concerts and other activities organized by the PR&C's Newton Cultural Development Department
$14,000 spent15% of program spendingCommunity Micro Grants - Award of community micro grants to artists, art organization and community groups for arts & culture, service and beautification projects.
$6,900 spentof which $6,900 as grants7% of program spendingBeautification - Fund planting of trees and flowers in public areas of the city.
$3,884 spent4% of program spendingPublic Art - Support local artists through organizing art exhibitions throughout the year.
$3,878 spent4% of program spending
The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $95,205.
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 2021 to 2022, from $232k to $279k (+20%).
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: 2021 2% · 2022 6% · 2023 11% · 2024 3% · 2025 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
84% of Spark Newton Corporation’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (18% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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.
Board chair
Meryl Kessler
Chairperson
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $6k → $45k.
4 of 16 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 59% 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 Spark Newton 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
Spark Newton Corporation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 33% of grant income and the top three 67%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
88% 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 Spark Newton Corporation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 83% · 2018 74% · 2019 69% · 2020 75% · 2021 34% · 2022 37% · 2023 31% — 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
50% of Spark Newton Corporation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% 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
59% of Spark Newton Corporation'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 $97k that is directly attributable, 92% of it comes from Massachusetts funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $138k 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
Spark Newton Corporation holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 10,453 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 10,453 recreation & sports nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like Spark Newton 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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
46% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
80%
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 Spark Newton 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 Spark Newton Corporation?
- Spark Newton Corporation (Massachusetts) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $234,646 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($77,255). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Spark Newton Corporation have?
- IRS filings report 16 organizations giving $234,646 in grants to Spark Newton Corporation, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Spark Newton Corporation?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $77,255 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Spark Newton Corporation find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 Spark Newton →
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 16 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