Missouri · Nonprofit
THE SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION
THE SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION (Missouri) receives grants from 52 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,903,192 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF GREATER ST LOUIS INC ($2,227,287). 34 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.1M
- Funders on record
- 52
- Grants received
- $12M
- Net assets
- $20M
What The Sheldon Arts Foundation does
Mission
Through the power of music and art, the sheldon ensures that all have access to unique, relevant and inventive experiences that change lives and strengthen our community.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Musical and educational programs: the sheldon seeks to present quality music in many diverse genres. 41 in person concerts this year were successfully presented in the historic sheldon concert hall to approximately 15,587 patrons. The sheldon also seeks to introduce, build an appreciation for and in some cases advance the artistic capabilities of young people in both music and the visual arts. The sheldon's education programs reached a total of 14,505 students through a combination of 27 live performances, its streaming platform being downloaded directly to 1,929 students, in addition to educators visiting 4 schools with our sound studio program and an additional 33 schools with our solid (science of learning instrument design) program. These important education programs introduce children to a wide range of music - including jazz, folk, classical, blues, world music, and more, weaving in grade-relevant lessons in literacy, social studies, and st. Louis and american history. Our lewis & clark program was taken to mckendree college in lebanon, il. The all-star chorus, made up of 25 students, performed at the university of missouri-st. Louis's touhill performing arts center, chorus…
$1,504,635 spentof which $45,985 as grants$1,001,915 earned by the program47% of program spendingCommunity events and beverage: begin to rebound, with some delayed recovery because rental events traditionally book a year in advance.
$1,011,028 spent32% of program spendingPreservation and operation of the historic sheldon concert hall.
$451,012 spent14% of program spendingVisual arts: the sheldon seeks to present quality exhibitions in many diverse genres - 9 exhibitions were successfully presented in the sheldon art galleries that served over 8,368 adults and young people. Golf the galleries did not take place this year due to a full renovation of gallery and hospitality spaces within the sheldon. The sheldon art galleries hosted 2 artist talks along with a special artist talk featuring michael wilson and lyle lovett, 3 education programs/workshops, a trunk show featuring 7 artists, as well as gallery tours for students.
$233,158 spent$32,330 earned by the program7% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,199,833.
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 2023 to 2024, from $18M to $20M (+13%).
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 4% · 2019 1% · 2020 6% · 2021 23% · 2022 36% · 2023 4% · 2024 9% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
72% of THE SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION’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. 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.
Chief executive
Peter Palermo
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 14 funders to 26 funders, grant income rose $931k → $957k.
13 of 52 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 13% 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 SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 52 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 SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% 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
53% 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 SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 36% · 2018 30% · 2019 44% · 2020 30% · 2021 26% · 2022 25% · 2023 31% — 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
52% of THE SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% 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
96% of THE SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Missouri funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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 SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin 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
Government funding THE SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $50k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$50k
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 SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION
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 Missouri
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
74% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
58%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION: 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 SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION?
- THE SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION (Missouri) receives grants from 52 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,903,192 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF GREATER ST LOUIS INC ($2,227,287). 34 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 52 organizations giving $11,903,192 in grants to THE SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION, 34 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION?
- UNITED WAY OF GREATER ST LOUIS INC is the largest funder on record, with $2,227,287 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE SHELDON ARTS FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Missouri. 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 Sheldon Arts →
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 52 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