California · Nonprofit
THE WALDEN SCHOOL
THE WALDEN SCHOOL (California) receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,883,439 to it, the largest being NETWORK FOR GOOD ($614,852). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 80% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.7M
- Funders on record
- 17
- Grants received
- $1.9M
- Net assets
- $738k
What The Walden School does
Mission
The Walden School inspires artistic expression and personal growth through experiential music programs.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
The memphis composers institute is a pilot educational program that is a partnership between the memphis symphony orchestra, university of memphis, and The Walden School. The institute occurs over three days during the winter/spring in memphis, tennessee, and features live symphony orchestra performances of new works by several selected composers. The memphis symphony orchestra provides the orchestra, conductor, and musicians; the university of memphis provides space for workshops, masterclasses, rehearsals, and the culminating performance. The Walden School assembles a panel of composers and performers connected to each of the three partner organizations and organizes a call for scores and judging and selection by the panel. During the multi-day institute in memphis, there are outreach educational activities with local schools and youth music ensembles, open rehearsals of the pieces, talkback conversations with the panelists and also with the selected composers.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
The Walden School young musicians program provides an unparalleled creative summer experience for musically inclined students ages 9 to 19. Part school, part camp, and part festival, the program convenes each summer for five weeks in dublin, nh. Through rigorous and innovative daily instruction, students hone their musical and creative skills within a supportive community of like-minded peers and mentors.
$785,823 spentof which $176,700 as grants$531,272 earned by the program77% of program spendingThe Walden School creative musicians retreat (cmr) offers training and development opportunities for the well-rounded musicians (ages 18+). At the creative musicians retreat (cmr), participants take classes (including courses in The Walden School's musicianship course), sing in the chorus, write music, and improvise. Participants are exposed to a variety of walden musicianship materials, including acoustics, drills with intervals and triads, resolving structures, rhythms, solfege and harmonic analysis. Classes also include topics in contemporary music and computer music. Composition lessons and master classes are offered.
$202,476 spentof which $23,450 as grants$147,596 earned by the program20% of program spendingThe Walden School's musicianship course encourages students to use the materials they study to create improvisatory works and original compositions. The method not only enhances students' musical skills, but also develops a sense of creative individuality in extra-musical pursuits.
$14,647 spent1% of program spendingDuring 2025, we continued a pilot of the memphis composers institute. We are hoping to make this a more permanent, on-going program offering of The Walden School, in partnership with the memphis symphony orchestra and university of memphis. We had more than 100 people participate as students, composers, audience members, and performers during this year's institute, and we hope to grow this in future years to have a much larger audience. - $9,484The Walden School hosts various alumni events throughout the year, designed to connect alumni to retain a vibrant connection to the organization. - $8,072
$17,556 spent2% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,020,502.
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 2024 to 2025, from $738k to $1.1M (+53%).
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: 2021 8% · 2022 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
57% of THE WALDEN SCHOOL’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 8 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
Seth Brenzel
Executive director
Board chair
Danielle Schindler Cheung
Chair (start 7/25)
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $89k → $265k.
9 of 17 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 80% 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 WALDEN SCHOOL’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 16 of 17 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 WALDEN SCHOOL leans on a few funders — its largest provides 33% of grant income and the top three 71%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
80% 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 WALDEN SCHOOL.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 69% · 2018 59% · 2019 60% · 2020 65% · 2021 37% · 2022 53% · 2023 57% — 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
63% of THE WALDEN SCHOOL'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
80% of THE WALDEN SCHOOL'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 $378k that is directly attributable, 86% of it comes from California 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 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 WALDEN SCHOOL runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like THE WALDEN SCHOOL
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
66% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE WALDEN SCHOOL: 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 WALDEN SCHOOL?
- THE WALDEN SCHOOL (California) receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,883,439 to it, the largest being NETWORK FOR GOOD ($614,852). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 80% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE WALDEN SCHOOL have?
- IRS filings report 17 organizations giving $1,883,439 in grants to THE WALDEN SCHOOL, 11 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE WALDEN SCHOOL?
- NETWORK FOR GOOD is the largest funder on record, with $614,852 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE WALDEN SCHOOL find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Walden School →
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 17 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