Maryland · Nonprofit
THE WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
THE WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC (Maryland) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $920,474 to it, the largest being ARTS AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL OF MONTGOMER ($731,184). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 85% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $983k
- Funders on record
- 18
- Grants received
- $920k
- Net assets
- $407k
What The Washington Conservatory of Music does
Mission
The Washington Conservatory of Music provides exceptional musical learning & listening experiences for students and the community. Its vision is a community inspired and informed by the experience of music.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Music instruction; the conservatory provides individual lessons for all ages and levels on piano, guitar, voice, string, wind, brass and percussion instruments, music theory, and composition. Other offerings include classes in various instruments & voice, early childhood music, and ensembles. Occasional seminars or master classes are offered.
$490,509 spent$623,619 earned by the program66% of program spendingCommunity concert series; the conservatory provides between 8 and 15 community concerts each year with performances from renowned guests, artists and faculty members. In 2023-2024, a total of 9 concerts and events were provided for washington, dc area residents with community support.
$63,287 spent$57,273 earned by the program9% of program spendingTapestry music project; the conservatory provides free music learning and listening experiences to students from underserved communities.
$12,978 spent$23,558 earned by the program2% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$173,769 spent23% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $740,543.
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 $1.2M to $488k (−59%).
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 5% · 2018 7% · 2019 6% · 2020 7% · 2021 18% · 2022 16% · 2023 13% · 2024 26% · 2025 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
28% of THE WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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.
Board chair
Dudley Winthrop
Officer - chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $61k → $154k.
7 of 18 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 85% 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 WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC’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 WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 79% of grant income and the top three 89%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
85% 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 WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 91% · 2018 88% · 2019 71% · 2020 87% · 2021 85% · 2022 70% · 2023 82% — 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 WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 44% 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
85% of THE WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC'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 $142k that is directly attributable, 82% of it comes from funders outside Maryland, across 8 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $779k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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 WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $920k to it.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like THE WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
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 Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
55% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC: 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 WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC?
- THE WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC (Maryland) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $920,474 to it, the largest being ARTS AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL OF MONTGOMER ($731,184). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 85% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC have?
- IRS filings report 18 organizations giving $920,474 in grants to THE WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC?
- ARTS AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL OF MONTGOMER is the largest funder on record, with $731,184 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE WASHINGTON CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 Washington Conservatory of Music →
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 18 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