Indiana · Nonprofit
THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION INC
THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION INC (Indiana) receives grants from 42 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,533,129 to it, the largest being Central Indiana Community Foundation Inc ($632,000). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.8M
- Funders on record
- 42
- Grants received
- $2.5M
- Net assets
- $8.7M
What The Great American Songbook Foundation Inc does
Mission
To inspire and educate by celebrating the great american songbook.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Museum and archive activities:the great american songbook foundation maintains the songbook library & archives, a vast and growing resource containing recordings, arrangements, images, memorabilia, personal papers and other items from the 20th century foundational era of american popular music. The library & archives was established to preserve the physical artifacts of the great american songbook's creators and performers for the education and benefit of current and future generations. The facility also includes a reference library and study space for researchers studying the music and the culture it has inspired.in addition, the great american songbook exhibit gallery open to the public is a multimedia educational center with rotating exhibits displaying pieces from the archives. As a cultural affiliate of the los angeles-based grammy museum, the songbook foundation is among a handful of institutions worldwide that collaborate on exhibitions, educational initiatives, research programs, internship opportunities, technical support and more.the foundation's eventual goal is to establish a freestanding songbook hall of fame museum to house its collections and present interactive…
$673,634 spent58% of program spendingCommunity education and outreach:the foundation has developed effective education and outreach programs to introduce people of all ages to the music and composers of the great american songbook in the context of american history and culture. The annual songbook academy is a leading music and performance intensive for high school vocalists that is dedicated to the music of broadway, hollywood musicals and the tin pan alley era of the early to mid-20th century. Students from around the country apply for the opportunity to learn and perform under the guidance of broadway performers, music industry professionals and educators from respected university music and theater programs. To accompany its physical collections and on-site programming, the foundation has developed traveling exhibits that are available free to community groups and a robust menu of virtual programming and online resources including digital exhibitions, collections highlights, video tours, activity kits, educational materials and more.the foundation's perfect harmony program is a music resource that provides care partners with appropriate generational music and activities to engage older adults in shared…
$495,269 spent$41,236 earned by the program42% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,168,903.
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 $971k to $16M (+1577%).
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: 2018 0% · 2019 16% · 2020 11% · 2021 23% · 2022 20% · 2023 12% · 2024 24% · 2025 15%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
89% of THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations 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. 6 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
Jeffrey Mcdermott
President/CEO
Board chair
Don Gottwald
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $99k → $286k.
10 of 42 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 40% 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 GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 42 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 GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 25% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
41% 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 GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 76% · 2018 36% · 2019 29% · 2020 56% · 2021 39% · 2022 19% · 2023 35% — 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 GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% 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 GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION INC draws 74% of its grant income from funders outside Indiana, across 9 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.0M 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 GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION INC holds deeper cash reserves 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 GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $317k on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$197k
- National Endowment for the Arts$120k
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 GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION 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 Indiana
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
61% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
80%
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 GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION 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 GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION INC?
- THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION INC (Indiana) receives grants from 42 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,533,129 to it, the largest being Central Indiana Community Foundation Inc ($632,000). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 42 organizations giving $2,533,129 in grants to THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION INC, 22 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION INC?
- Central Indiana Community Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $632,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK FOUNDATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Indiana. 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 Great American Songbook →
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 42 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