New York · Nonprofit
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc (New York) receives grants from 126 organizations whose IRS filings report $20,385,321 to it, the largest being CORNELL UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ($4,000,000). 85 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $19M
- Funders on record
- 126
- Grants received
- $20M
- Net assets
- $95M
What The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc does
Mission
The Chamber Music Society's Mission is to stimulate and support the appreciation, performance, and composition of chamber music by presenting concerts for the public.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Musical Performances: CMS annually produces an ambitious season of con certs in our two venues at Lincoln Center in New York, which were spe- cifically designed for the presentation of chamber music. The organiz- ation is comprised of a multi-generational and international roster of the finest chamber musicians, enabling us to present chamber music of every instrumentation, style, and period. Our concerts feature though- tfully curated performances of masterworks and important works by a diverse range of contemporary and living composers. CMS also conducts outreach to diverse audiences in New York City, and provide unpara- lelled career building opportunities for outstanding early-career musicians.
$5,349,367 spent$2,234,780 earned by the program54% of program spendingTouring: Each season CMS pursues a vigorous touring schedule across the United States, North and South America, Europe and Asia. While on tour our artists give master classes, coachings, and lectures for local students and audiences. In addition to long standing residencies CMS strives to bring chamber music to places where it is less common and strengthen interest where a tradition of chamber music already exists.
$2,127,240 spent$1,167,211 earned by the program21% of program spendingEducation: Each year, thousands of children and adults participate in CMSs education and community engagement programs. For adults, we offer master classes, pre-concert composer talks, lectures on season repertoire, and entertaining program notes that enhance audience enjoyment. We also lead a competitive three-year residency program for early-career chamber musicians. Our youth initiatives include family concerts, a relaxed performance series for children who are neuro- diverse, and a classroom elementary school program that teaches music fundamentals, youth mentorship and performance training programs, and an open rehearsal series.
$1,260,779 spent$22,500 earned by the program13% of program spendingDigital & Streaming Performances.
$1,179,698 spent$23,557 earned by the program12% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $9,917,084.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 2024 to 2025, from $87M to $98M (+13%).
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 3% · 2022 14% · 2023 2% · 2024 1% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
52% of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center 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. 1 of the last 5 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 Davidson
Executive Director
Board chair
Robert Hoglund
Chairperson
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 16 funders to 61 funders, grant income rose $257k → $3.9M.
24 of 126 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 49% 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 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 126 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
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
49% 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 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 24% · 2018 35% · 2019 22% · 2020 32% · 2021 31% · 2022 25% · 2023 26% — broadly stable.
“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
49% of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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
78% of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $9.9M arriving through sponsors registered in 15 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 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 570 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 570 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $405k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$405k
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 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center 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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
76% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
71%
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 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center 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 The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc?
- The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc (New York) receives grants from 126 organizations whose IRS filings report $20,385,321 to it, the largest being CORNELL UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ($4,000,000). 85 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc have?
- IRS filings report 126 organizations giving $20,385,321 in grants to The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc, 85 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc?
- CORNELL UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $4,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), and the filings of 126 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