Massachusetts · Nonprofit
THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC
THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 156 organizations whose IRS filings report $80,841,569 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($32,612,937). 87 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 60% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $31M
- Funders on record
- 156
- Grants received
- $81M
- Net assets
- $140M
What The Institute of Contemporary Art Inc does
Mission
The mission of the institute of contemporary art ("ica") is to share the pleasures of reflection, inspiration, provocation, and imagination that contemporary art offers through public access to art, artists, and the creative process.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Art exhibitions: gallery presentations: the ica presented 18 contemporary art exhibitions featuring painting, drawing, sculpture, video, installation, and more. Fy25 gallery exhibits attendance totaled visitors 184,842, watershed attendance numbered 26,897, and in-person programming attendance numbered 33,174. (see continuation on schedule o)
$9,304,905 spent$1,704,171 earned by the program56% of program spendingEducation, adults, teens:the ica offers a robust range of educational programs built around themes in contemporary art and culture. Geared toward adult, teen, and family audiences, these include public programs, digital resources, and more. We extend our gratitude to the many individuals and organizations who contribute to the success of these initiatives, including teaching artists, community partners, schools, and the artists themselves.(see continuation on schedule o)
$2,091,933 spent$23,862 earned by the program13% of program spendingPerforming and media arts:the ica presents some of the most innovative and forward-looking choreographers, musicians, filmmakers, theater companies and multi-disciplinary artists from boston and the rest of the world. In fy25 we offered 46 programs (performing arts and film). Attendance totaled approximately 21,823. We organized 51 performances by the following performers, artists and ensemble companies. Attendance of these performances totaled 16,857. (see continuation on schedule o)dance/theater* summer stages dance @ ica: jasmine hearn memory fleet open rehearsal * summer stages dance @ ica: shamel pitts | tribe sneak preview showing* sandbox percussion and gandini juggling* faye driscoll: weathering* urban bush women 40th anniversary: this is risk* global arts live presents - subject: matter - palaver strings + little house dance: noisefloor - gallim dance - boston dance theater: red is a feeling - david dorfman dance: trucemusic* harborwalk sounds: - so alma - rijah - soulboi - cordelia fox - manuela sanchez goubert - last minute - two smooth - kaji barfi* vinyl nights: - keep on - stay silent - music research library - kickback - social studies - slow gemz - infra* black joy…
$1,884,087 spent$197,295 earned by the program11% of program spendingEarned income activities:- event space rentals: the ica hosted 43 event rentals in fy25 that were attended by 6,036 visitors who had the opportunity to view the ica's award winning architectural design and exhibitions. - art trips: in fy25, the ica sponsored one art trip to copenhagen.
$1,556,718 spent$747,973 earned by the program9% of program spendingMarketing and communications:developed and implemented marketing, advertising, social media, and public relations strategies that promoted the experience of the ica including the exhibitions, performances, educational, community and social programs, and free holiday mondays to the public and ica members. Exhibitions and performances received critical and popular acclaim, and were well received by visitors with high engagement and satisfaction ratings. In fiscal year 2025, the ica welcomed a total of 242,967 visitors.
$1,231,701 spent7% of program spendingMemberships:in fiscal year 2025, the membership department served 6,175 households and had 26,266 member visits to enjoy their primary benefits of free museum admission, special members' events, free access to first fridays, and discounts in the ica store.
$523,551 spent$686,654 earned by the program3% of program spending
The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $16,592,895.
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 $94M to $115M (+22%).
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 2% · 2020 3% · 2021 10% · 2022 18% · 2023 3% · 2024 2% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
84% of THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 33 funders to 57 funders, grant income rose $5.8M → $8.0M.
21 of 156 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 60% 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: $75k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Via Art Fund Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC raised.
From the IRS filings of THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 156 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 INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 40% of grant income and the top three 58%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
63% 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 INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 59% · 2018 44% · 2019 62% · 2020 26% · 2021 35% · 2022 31% · 2023 44% — 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
44% of THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% 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
60% of THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC'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 $32M that is directly attributable, 67% of it comes from Massachusetts funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $49M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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 INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 550 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 550 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.8M on record — $2.0M federal, $803k state.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$970k
- Smithsonian Institution$376k
- Department of State$375k
- National Endowment for the Arts$265k
- MA$800k
- FL$4k
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 INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART 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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
76%
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 INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART 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 INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC?
- THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 156 organizations whose IRS filings report $80,841,569 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($32,612,937). 87 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 60% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC have?
- IRS filings report 156 organizations giving $80,841,569 in grants to THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC, 87 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $32,612,937 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 Institute of Contemporary Art →
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 156 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