Ohio · Nonprofit
THE CONTEMPORARY THEATRE OF OHIO
THE CONTEMPORARY THEATRE OF OHIO (Ohio) receives grants from 20 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,150,285 to it, the largest being GREATER COLUMBUS ARTS COUNCIL ($1,850,754). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.1M
- Funders on record
- 20
- Grants received
- $3.2M
- Net assets
- $791k
What The Contemporary Theatre of Ohio does
Mission
The Contemporary Theatre of Ohio's mission is to harness the transformational power of theatre that engages with our current moment to inspire a community of empathy.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Theatre productions: The Contemporary Theatre of Ohio (the company) produced 5 mainstage plays, and a pilot program for teenagers, in the 2024-2025 season. An in-person audience of more than 5,500 were engaged through season subscriptions, group and single ticket sales, and strategic community partnerships.
$594,483 spent$189,936 earned by the program85% of program spendingEducation and community outreach: the company has a robust educational program serving more than 1,000 students annually. It provides interdisciplinary arts learning through drama/theatre techniques in public and private schools in franklin and contiguous counties. Programming also includes a saturday morning musical program in the fall, winter, and spring. A series of summer camps are also offered.
$102,440 spent$70,078 earned by the program15% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $696,923.
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 2024 to 2025, from $655k to $920k (+40%).
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 12% · 2018 13% · 2019 14% · 2020 15% · 2021 53% · 2022 62% · 2023 42% · 2024 32% · 2025 37%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
78% of THE CONTEMPORARY THEATRE OF OHIO’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. 5 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
Christy Farnbauch
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 8 funders to 9 funders, grant income rose $300k → $359k.
5 of 20 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 25% 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 CONTEMPORARY THEATRE OF OHIO’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 CONTEMPORARY THEATRE OF OHIO leans on a few funders — its largest provides 59% of grant income and the top three 87%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
89% 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 CONTEMPORARY THEATRE OF OHIO.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 41% · 2018 42% · 2019 59% · 2020 56% · 2021 59% · 2022 59% · 2023 60% — 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
50% of THE CONTEMPORARY THEATRE OF OHIO's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 70% 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
97% of THE CONTEMPORARY THEATRE OF OHIO's grant income comes from Ohio funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $801k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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 CONTEMPORARY THEATRE OF OHIO runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like THE CONTEMPORARY THEATRE OF OHIO
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 Ohio
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
75% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
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 CONTEMPORARY THEATRE OF OHIO: 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 CONTEMPORARY THEATRE OF OHIO?
- THE CONTEMPORARY THEATRE OF OHIO (Ohio) receives grants from 20 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,150,285 to it, the largest being GREATER COLUMBUS ARTS COUNCIL ($1,850,754). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE CONTEMPORARY THEATRE OF OHIO have?
- IRS filings report 20 organizations giving $3,150,285 in grants to THE CONTEMPORARY THEATRE OF OHIO, 14 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE CONTEMPORARY THEATRE OF OHIO?
- GREATER COLUMBUS ARTS COUNCIL is the largest funder on record, with $1,850,754 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE CONTEMPORARY THEATRE OF OHIO find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. 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 Contemporary Theatre of Ohio →
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 20 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