Vermont · Nonprofit
THE CIRCUS BARN INC
THE CIRCUS BARN INC (Vermont) receives grants from 39 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,196,453 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,480,745). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 76% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.8M
- Funders on record
- 39
- Grants received
- $2.2M
- Net assets
- $2.7M
What The Circus Barn Inc does
Mission
To promote the skills, culture and traditions of the traveling circus, and to inspire youth to engage in life-changing adventures in the circus arts.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Smirkus camp - circus smirkus offers a variety of overnight camp sessions for youth of all ages and skill levels under our big top tents at our smirkus camp campus in greensboro, vt. Sessions this year range from two days to 5 weeks for kids aged 5-18. The smirkus camp road show will also present free shows around central vt and the northeast kingdom through partnerships with the lunchbox program, libraries, and other youth focused groups.
$783,296 spentof which $29,585 as grants$756,557 earned by the program37% of program spendingBig top tour - each summer an auditioned company of "smirkus troupers", ages 12-18, travels new england for a two-month performance tour backed by professional coaches, cooks, musicians and crew. Shows take place under a 700-seat, one-ring, european-style big top and help raise money for community presenters.
$1,299,138 spentof which $50,000 as grants$1,357,607 earned by the program62% of program spendingSchool residencies - circus smirkus works with professional circus arts educators to conduct one- and two-week long artist-in-residence programs in schools and after school settings throughout new england. Teaching is aligned with sel principles where students are given a hands-on opportunity to develop concentration, focus, and persistence. At the end of each residency a school or community wide performance shares the progress of the students and showcases their developments in a fun and inclusive show.
$18,160 spent$52,084 earned by the program1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,100,594.
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 2022 to 2023, from $5.1M to $4.7M (−8%).
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 13% · 2021 19%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
20% of THE CIRCUS BARN INC’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. 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.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2021 and FY2022 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 11 funders, grant income rose $162k → $460k.
10 of 39 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 76% 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 CIRCUS BARN INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 39 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 CIRCUS BARN INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 67% of grant income and the top three 83%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
92% 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 CIRCUS BARN INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 80% · 2018 68% · 2019 68% · 2020 70% · 2021 86% · 2022 82% · 2023 43% — 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
38% of THE CIRCUS BARN INC'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
76% of THE CIRCUS BARN 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 $523k that is directly attributable, 78% of it comes from Vermont funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.7M 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 CIRCUS BARN INC receives grants from 39 organizations whose IRS filings report $2.2M to it.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like THE CIRCUS BARN 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 Vermont
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
73% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
96%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE CIRCUS BARN 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 CIRCUS BARN INC?
- THE CIRCUS BARN INC (Vermont) receives grants from 39 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,196,453 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,480,745). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 76% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE CIRCUS BARN INC have?
- IRS filings report 39 organizations giving $2,196,453 in grants to THE CIRCUS BARN INC, 22 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE CIRCUS BARN INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $1,480,745 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE CIRCUS BARN INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Vermont. 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 Circus Barn →
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 39 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