Oregon · Nonprofit
The Very Little Theater Inc
The Very Little Theater Inc (Oregon) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $505,407 to it, the largest being M J MURDOCK CHARITABLE TRUST ($200,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $621k
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $505k
- Net assets
- $2.1M
What The Very Little Theater Inc does
Mission
The Very Little Theatre is a diverse community based volunteer organization that entertains educates and inspires through theatre.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
Although illioo Native Theatre Minority Voices Theatre and No Script Society were all services last year they were included in general revenue and not listed as program service accomplishments. I have decided reporting them as program services this year is more accurate.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
illioo Native Theatre celebrates and showcases Native First Nations Indigenous dramatists and artists through productions concert readings and workshops.
$15,782 spent$26,390 earned by the program19% of program spendingMainstage production
$14,894 spent$37,569 earned by the program18% of program spendingMainstage production
$11,372 spent$49,149 earned by the program14% of program spendingMainstage production
$9,290 spent$25,268 earned by the program11% of program spendingMainstage production
$8,322 spent$17,633 earned by the program10% of program spendingMainstage production
$7,473 spent$25,880 earned by the program9% of program spendingMVT a program of VLT is designed to build bridges that offer opportunities for members of local minority or marginalized communities to participate in the collaborative art of theatre as actors writers directors designers and audience members.
$6,339 spent$1,717 earned by the program8% of program spendingStage Left production
$5,722 spent$15,401 earned by the program7% of program spendingStage Left production
$4,805 spent$21,747 earned by the program6% of program spendingResident improv troupe
$188 spent$7,729 earned by the program0% of program spending
The 10 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $84,187.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $1.4M to $2.1M (+52%).
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: 2022 3% · 2024 1% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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 1 funder to 4 funders, grant income rose $4k → $82k.
3 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 18% 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 Very Little Theater Inc’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 Very Little Theater Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 40% of grant income and the top three 84%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 99% · 2021 37% · 2022 72% · 2023 84% — 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
40% of The Very Little Theater Inc's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 50% 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
51% of The Very Little Theater Inc's grant income comes from Oregon funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $91k 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.
Organizations like The Very Little Theater 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 Oregon
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
23% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 Very Little Theater 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 Very Little Theater Inc?
- The Very Little Theater Inc (Oregon) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $505,407 to it, the largest being M J MURDOCK CHARITABLE TRUST ($200,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does The Very Little Theater Inc have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $505,407 in grants to The Very Little Theater Inc, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of The Very Little Theater Inc?
- M J MURDOCK CHARITABLE TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $200,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like The Very Little Theater Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Oregon. 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 Very Little Theater →
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 12 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