Washington · Nonprofit
THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA
THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA (Washington) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $337,694 to it, the largest being ARTSFUND ($153,857). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $127k
- Funders on record
- 9
- Grants received
- $338k
- Net assets
- $78k
What Three Dollar Bill Cinema does
Mission
Three Dollar Bill Cinema fosters deeper community engagement by showcasing queer film programming, educational experiences, and social dialogue.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Program
Like many arts organizations, TDBC is facing real challenges. Rising festival costs, decreased sponsorship funding, and shifting audience behavior in a post-pandemic world have forced us to make tough decisions. To stay afloat, we transitioned to an all-volunteer model, choosing to downsize rather than close our doors entirely.This year, we made the strategic decision to combine the Seattle Queer Film Festivals 30th anniversary with the 20th anniversary of TRANS|lations, producing a single, three-day festival to reduce costs while still celebrating with our community. It was a moment of reflection. An opportunity to gather, celebrate, and begin shaping what the next 30 years of TDBC can look like.After several years of financial challenge, TDBC is in the midst of a purposeful transformation. We are restructuring with a renewed focus on education, diverse storytelling, underrepresented voices, and community accessibility. Guided by a bold, forward-looking vision, we are redefining our role as both a cultural anchor and an engine for inclusive creative expression. Our goal is to sustainably present accessible community events while operating within our means - building financial…
$31,126 spent100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $31,126.
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 2019 to 2020, from $35k to $137k (+290%).
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: 2019 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
92% of THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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 2 funders to 4 funders, grant income fell $63k → $25k.
2 of 9 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 31% 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 THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA’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
THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA leans on a few funders — its largest provides 46% of grant income and the top three 93%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
100% 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 THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 91% · 2018 100% · 2019 84% · 2020 52% · 2021 52% · 2022 49% · 2023 40% — 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
50% of THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 33% 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
70% of THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA's grant income comes from Washington funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $105k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Government funding THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $100k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$100k
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 THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA
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 Washington
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
99%
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 THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA: 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 THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA?
- THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA (Washington) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $337,694 to it, the largest being ARTSFUND ($153,857). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA have?
- IRS filings report 9 organizations giving $337,694 in grants to THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA?
- ARTSFUND is the largest funder on record, with $153,857 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington. 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 Three Dollar Bill Cinema →
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 9 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