New York · Nonprofit
THE EMELIN THEATRE
THE EMELIN THEATRE (New York) receives grants from 37 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,796,178 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($536,800). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 65% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.7M
- Funders on record
- 37
- Grants received
- $1.8M
- Net assets
- $1.6M
What The Emelin Theatre does
Mission
None
As stated on its FY2019 Form 990.
Program
Program Revenue (Earned Income) during FY2025-2024 was approximately 2.7% higher than FY2024-2023. The programming mix changed compared to FY2024-2023. We significantly increased the number of family and school performances compared to FY2024-2023, which sold well. As part of a long-term plan to identify additional revenue sources, we increased the number of rentals in FY2025-2024 focusing on local performing arts organizations. For the Emelin Presents performances we presented several new artists and genres to help attract new audiences. These Emelin Presents shows did not sell as well as expected which resulted in lower average ticket price compared to the prior year. Public and Private Support and Special Events (Contributed Income) was approximately 29% higher than FY2024-2023. We benefitted from several major donors making significant contributions in FY2025-2024 and increased support from local governments for our free Summer in the Park concert series. FY2025-2024 operating expenses were about the same as FY2024-2023. Compensation expense increased approximately 5% vs the prior year due to new hires in development support and marketing. Artist fees increased approximately…
$1,305,386 spent$999,887 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,305,386.
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 2017 to 2018, from $1.1M to $1.5M (+39%).
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 4% · 2018 3% · 2019 4% · 2020 4% · 2021 20% · 2022 8% · 2023 5% · 2024 7% · 2025 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
21% of THE EMELIN THEATRE’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 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
David Bander
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2022 and FY2023, and between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 15 funders, grant income rose $197k → $357k.
7 of 37 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 65% 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 EMELIN THEATRE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 37 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 EMELIN THEATRE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 30% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
85% 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 EMELIN THEATRE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 48% · 2018 50% · 2019 47% · 2020 55% · 2021 41% · 2022 42% · 2023 49% — 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
29% of THE EMELIN THEATRE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% 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
65% of THE EMELIN THEATRE'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 $622k that is directly attributable, 83% of it comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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 EMELIN THEATRE is better cushioned than half 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
Organizations like THE EMELIN THEATRE
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
93%
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 EMELIN THEATRE: 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 EMELIN THEATRE?
- THE EMELIN THEATRE (New York) receives grants from 37 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,796,178 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($536,800). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 65% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE EMELIN THEATRE have?
- IRS filings report 37 organizations giving $1,796,178 in grants to THE EMELIN THEATRE, 22 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE EMELIN THEATRE?
- DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $536,800 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE EMELIN THEATRE 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 Emelin Theatre →
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 37 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