South Carolina · Nonprofit
SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC
SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC (South Carolina) receives grants from 106 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,884,570 to it, the largest being COASTAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA INC ($2,943,013). 72 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 67% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $11M
- Funders on record
- 106
- Grants received
- $12M
- Net assets
- $18M
What Spoleto Festival USA Inc does
Mission
As the nation's preeminent performing arts festival, spoleto produces and presents work of the highest artistic caliber to diverse and adventurous audiences. Through innovation, education, and a commitment to our community, we harness the power of the arts to foster a culture of belonging and deepen and engage the public appreciation for the arts in building a better world.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
For 17 days and nights each spring, spoleto festival usa fills charleston, south carolina's historic theaters, churches, and outdoor spaces with performances by renowned artists, as well as emerging performers in dance, music, opera, and theater. Spoleto festival is internationally recognized as america's premier performing arts festival. The 2025 festival included over 120 performances enjoyed by over 40,000 attendees.
$7,659,994 spent$276,654 earned by the program90% of program spendingEach year the festival develops a festival chorus and orchestra with more than 100 musicians. Through nationwide auditions, a talented group of young professionals and students are selected for a resident ensemble. The festival orchestra has proven to be one of the finest opportunities for young musicians to gain extensive performance experience. Alumni of the spoleto festival orchestra can be found in almost every professional orchestra in the united states and many abroad.
$638,851 spent$340,743 earned by the program7% of program spendingAnnually the festival provides an apprenticeship program for short-term intensive and exciting learning opportunities about the world of performing arts. Fifty college students acquired hands-on experience under the guidance of professional arts administrators and technicians.
$118,093 spent1% of program spendingSpoleto is heavily involved in community engagement and arts education, partnering with local elementary schools and a local youth jazz academy to provide artist led workshops and opportunities to attend performances. A program called "tell your story" allows charlestonians to partner with orchestra fellows to create oral histories accompanied by composition. A "pay what you will" program and "open stage door" program provide low priced and complimentary tickets to community based non-profit organizations and those without means to experience world-class performances.
$102,319 spent$19,919 earned by the program1% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $8,519,257.
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 $24M to $19M (−21%).
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 4% · 2018 5% · 2019 5% · 2020 3% · 2021 17% · 2022 24% · 2023 9% · 2024 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
54% of SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 24 funders to 49 funders, grant income rose $886k → $1.7M.
28 of 106 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 67% 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 SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 106 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
SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 25% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
69% 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 SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 39% · 2018 35% · 2019 28% · 2020 28% · 2021 22% · 2022 26% · 2023 22% — 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
47% of SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 68% 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
67% of SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC'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 $3.9M that is directly attributable, 92% of it comes from funders outside South Carolina, across 21 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $8.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 16 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
SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC's revenue grew 36% between 2017 and 2024.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 772 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $265k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$265k
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 SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA 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 South Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
68% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
87%
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 SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA 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 SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC?
- SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC (South Carolina) receives grants from 106 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,884,570 to it, the largest being COASTAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA INC ($2,943,013). 72 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 67% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC have?
- IRS filings report 106 organizations giving $11,884,570 in grants to SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC, 72 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC?
- COASTAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA INC is the largest funder on record, with $2,943,013 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in South Carolina. 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 Spoleto Festival USA →
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 106 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