Virginia · Nonprofit
THE ART LEAGUE
THE ART LEAGUE (Virginia) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $485,110 to it, the largest being ACT FOR ALEXANDRIA ($98,027). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 70% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.1M
- Funders on record
- 18
- Grants received
- $485k
- Net assets
- $1.7M
What The Art League does
Mission
By nurturing the artist, we enrich the community. The Art League develops the artist through education, exhibition and a stimulating, supportive environment, while sharing the experience of the visual arts with the community.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
School - The Art League school offers one of the region's most comprehensive visual arts programs, with classes in nearly every fine art discipline and a wide range of crafts. Taught by a faculty of 90+ accomplished artists and instructors, our courses serve students of all levels, ages five and up. Each year, over 10,000 seats are filled by aspiring and experienced artists alike.
$1,704,062 spentof which $6,950 as grants$2,331,958 earned by the program71% of program spendingGallery - our gallery hosts monthly exhibitions, artist events, and the beloved patrons' show, all free and open to the public. As a membership gallery representing more than 800 artists, we showcase over 3,500 original works annually. The Art League store, staffed by working artists, provides high-quality art supplies at accessible pricesoffering mission-driven service to students, artists, and the wider creative community.
$594,520 spentof which $16,045 as grants$117,023 earned by the program25% of program spendingOutreach - our nationally recognized outreach initiatives harness the power of visual art to uplift underserved members of our community. Programs like impart, soho (space of her own), and the geri gordon scholarship fund provide access to creative expression, mentorship, and educational opportunitiesmeeting people where they are with empathy and impact.
$97,185 spent4% of program spendingOther
$82,200 earned by the program
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,395,767.
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 $1.1M to $5.5M (+379%).
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: 2022 19%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
33% of THE ART LEAGUE’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
Suzanne Bethel
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $37k → $111k.
7 of 18 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 70% 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 THE ART LEAGUE’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
THE ART LEAGUE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% 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
81% 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 THE ART LEAGUE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 59% · 2018 53% · 2019 100% · 2020 56% · 2021 54% · 2022 53% · 2023 45% — 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 THE ART LEAGUE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 44% 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
70% of THE ART LEAGUE'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 $144k that is directly attributable, 51% of it comes from Virginia funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $341k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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
THE ART LEAGUE runs a healthier operating margin 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 THE ART LEAGUE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $70k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$70k
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 THE ART LEAGUE
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 Virginia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
69% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
97%
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 THE ART LEAGUE: 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 THE ART LEAGUE?
- THE ART LEAGUE (Virginia) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $485,110 to it, the largest being ACT FOR ALEXANDRIA ($98,027). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 70% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE ART LEAGUE have?
- IRS filings report 18 organizations giving $485,110 in grants to THE ART LEAGUE, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE ART LEAGUE?
- ACT FOR ALEXANDRIA is the largest funder on record, with $98,027 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE ART LEAGUE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. 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 Art League →
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 18 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