California · Nonprofit
THE COLBURN SCHOOL
THE COLBURN SCHOOL (California) receives grants from 100 organizations whose IRS filings report $160,445,710 to it, the largest being DUNARD FUND USA LTD ($122,550,000). 57 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $70M
- Funders on record
- 100
- Grants received
- $160M
- Net assets
- $616M
What The Colburn School does
Mission
The Colburn School's founding principle of "access to excellence" provides a performance-centered education with unparalleled faculty and facilities for all levels of development, instills the joy and discipline of the performing arts, (continued on schedule o).
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
See schedule oThe Colburn School (the "school") is a california not-for-profit corporation located in the heart of downtown los angeles, california. Led by an outstanding faculty, the school provides dedicated students the highest quality performing arts education with an emphasis on performance.the school was founded in 1950 as a preparatory program for the university of southern california and fulfilled that function until 1980 when it became an independent community school for the performing arts and was accredited as a non-degree-granting institution by the national association of schools of music (nasm). Currently, this program is known as The Colburn School of performing arts (cspa) and offers programs in music, dance, drama, and voice to approximately 2,000 students of all ages (toddler to adult) and abilities (novice through advanced). The school also operates community outreach programs that bring performing arts to under-served children in inner-city schools.the colburn conservatory of music (cscm), established in 2003, offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs specializing in classical music performance. Cscm programs range from two to four years of study and…
$46,204,863 spentof which $11,875,568 as grants$19,657,692 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $46,204,863.
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 $392M to $625M (+59%).
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 2% · 2023 0% · 2024 0% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
35% of THE COLBURN SCHOOL’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. 4 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
Sel Kardan
President & CEO
Board chair
Andrew Millstein
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 20 funders to 43 funders, grant income fell $9.3M → $8.6M.
17 of 100 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 7% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $53M from 4 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Colburn Music Fund). These are real filings, and they are not money THE COLBURN SCHOOL raised.
From the IRS filings of THE COLBURN SCHOOL’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 100 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 COLBURN SCHOOL leans on a few funders — its largest provides 76% of grant income and the top three 84%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 79% · 2018 17% · 2019 69% · 2020 47% · 2021 90% · 2022 91% · 2023 30% — 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
39% of THE COLBURN SCHOOL's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 57% 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
THE COLBURN SCHOOL draws 88% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 14 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $11M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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 COLBURN SCHOOL holds deeper cash reserves 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 COLBURN SCHOOL receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $375k on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$375k
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 COLBURN SCHOOL
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- Wfbi LLC · disregarded
- Colburn Music Fund · exempt
- Colburn Foundation · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE COLBURN SCHOOL: 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 COLBURN SCHOOL?
- THE COLBURN SCHOOL (California) receives grants from 100 organizations whose IRS filings report $160,445,710 to it, the largest being DUNARD FUND USA LTD ($122,550,000). 57 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE COLBURN SCHOOL have?
- IRS filings report 100 organizations giving $160,445,710 in grants to THE COLBURN SCHOOL, 57 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE COLBURN SCHOOL?
- DUNARD FUND USA LTD is the largest funder on record, with $122,550,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE COLBURN SCHOOL find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Colburn School →
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 100 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