Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
THE CLAY STUDIO
THE CLAY STUDIO (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 61 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,035,156 to it, the largest being WINDGATE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC ($3,151,283). 39 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $6.9M
- Funders on record
- 61
- Grants received
- $9.0M
- Net assets
- $16M
What The Clay Studio does
Mission
The Clay Studio's mission is to provide a unique learning environment in which to experience the ceramic arts; accordingly, we gear our programs to all levels of interest, proficiency, and financial means.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The artist-in-residence program, a vital creative engine at The Clay Studio, has been a cornerstone of our institution since its inception in 1974. This foundational program, partially supported by an endowment, offers 12 funded fellowships, studio space, shared resources, and mentoring from our professional staff. Each artist benefits from a solo exhibition, group exhibitions, and participation in group critiques and studio visits with visiting artists and curators. This professional springboard has been instrumental in launching the successful artistic careers of hundreds of artists over the past 50 years, a testament to the program's enduring impact.
$1,219,698 spentof which $29,503 as grants$1,055,750 earned by the program38% of program spendingClaymobile, our community engagement program, brings a "pop-up" ceramics studio to schools, older adult facilities, community centers, events, and social service agencies throughout philadelphia. Since 1994, our professional teaching artists have served 50,000 children. Through claymobile, we provide arts education opportunities that use the tactile medium of clay to nurture imagination, critical thinking, and persistence. Claymobile operates all year round, annually serving more than 6,000 children, youth, and adults visiting 200 partner sites across philadelphia. Additionally, our community engagement initiatives introduce 15,000 people to the world of ceramics through our hands-on activities and demonstrations at free public events around philadelphia each year. The after-school initiative provides students in our immediate community with arts enrichment activities and homework assistance during out-of-school time hours. The Clay Studio is rooted in the belief that people deserve access to high-quality arts opportunities, and the claymobile is one of the ways we bring them to the local community.
$709,797 spent$173,030 earned by the program22% of program spendingThe gallery and exhibitions program at The Clay Studio is a vibrant platform that annually showcases the work of over 300 local, national, and international ceramic artists. We curate and present multiple exhibitions, including solo and group shows, in our galleries, and host lectures, panel discussions, and artist talks. The gallery is a leader in presenting contemporary ceramics, engaging audiences with relevant programming, and catalog publishing. Our online lectures serve as a platform for engaging dialogue about ceramics. These events create an opportunity for a broad audience, from professional artists to collectors to beginning students, to celebrate traditional and contemporary ceramics in thoughtful dialogue, fostering an intellectually engaging environment.
$430,206 spent$65,427 earned by the program13% of program spendingThe Clay Studio is committed to providing education opportunities to ceramic artists of all levels, from beginners to highly experienced makers. We offer a wide range of instruction, including wheel-throwing, hand- building, surface decoration, sculpture, glazing, mold-making, and more. Our classes and workshops, which enroll more than 600 students each term, are designed to be inclusive and welcoming. We serve as the primary studio for more than 40 ceramic artists through our associates program, and nearly 1/3 of our students are advanced-level ceramic artists. We strive to create a supportive studio environment where artists of all ages and abilities can learn and thrive, ensuring that everyone feels welcomed and valued.
$865,568 spent$459,646 earned by the program27% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,225,269.
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 $17M to $26M (+55%).
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 2% · 2018 2% · 2019 1% · 2020 5% · 2021 17% · 2022 3% · 2023 0% · 2024 2% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
68% of THE CLAY STUDIO’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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.
Board chair
Franz Rabauer
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 25 funders, grant income rose $55k → $1.0M.
7 of 61 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 8% 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 CLAY STUDIO’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 61 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 CLAY STUDIO leans on a few funders — its largest provides 35% of grant income and the top three 65%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 24% · 2018 54% · 2019 35% · 2020 56% · 2021 40% · 2022 38% · 2023 35% — growing more concentrated.
“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
52% of THE CLAY STUDIO's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% 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
54% of THE CLAY STUDIO's grant income comes from Pennsylvania funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $702k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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 CLAY STUDIO runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters 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 CLAY STUDIO receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $115k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$115k
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 CLAY STUDIO
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 Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
75% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- The Clay Studio Holdings Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE CLAY STUDIO: 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 CLAY STUDIO?
- THE CLAY STUDIO (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 61 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,035,156 to it, the largest being WINDGATE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC ($3,151,283). 39 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE CLAY STUDIO have?
- IRS filings report 61 organizations giving $9,035,156 in grants to THE CLAY STUDIO, 39 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE CLAY STUDIO?
- WINDGATE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $3,151,283 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE CLAY STUDIO find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
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 61 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