Washington · Nonprofit
Totem Star
Totem Star (Washington) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,061,919 to it, the largest being THE SATTERBERG FOUNDATION INC ($670,000). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.2M
- Funders on record
- 29
- Grants received
- $2.1M
- Net assets
- $1.7M
What Totem Star does
Mission
To support a diverse community of young recording artists learning music and life skills through mentorship and meaningful relationships. Our work in the studio and on the stage fosters growth in collaboration, leadership, and self-identity.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The Studio - Weekly after school open studio with workstations and recording resources for five to six youth at a time. Many youth bring in peer collaborators for their sessions. The small group structure allows for close mentorship opportunities for youth from teaching artists and full access to audio engineering equipment. Youth sign up for studio times on their own to encourage independent planning and organization. Studio sessions are quickly filled each week, demonstrating our youth's ongoing interest and dedication to their creative work.
$257,260 spent64% of program spendingPartnerships - In 2024, Totem Star expanded its community impact through new partnerships at our shared home in the historic Amtrak station in Pioneer Square. We joined Red Eagle Soaring Native Youth Theatre and The Rhapsody Project as founding members of Station Space, an arts hub for youth-centered organizations. Once an unused 2nd floor is now an active creative campus filled with youth music, theater, and cultural programming. Together, we launched the first Station Space Block Party, featuring performances by young artists from across all partner organizations. We continue to collaborate on community events and shared resources to support and empower youth artists. Totem Star also launched a new partnership with the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention to serve youth housed in the juvenile detention facility. Through a newly developed music production program, we provide personal mentorship, collaborative creative opportunities, and supportive community connections.
$68,174 spent17% of program spendingArtist Booking - In 2024, Totem Star continued its commitment to paying young artists for their work. Through our Artist Booking program, youth gain professional experience both as performers and as independent contractors. This year, we booked 18 Totem Star artists for 15 paid performances at community events including the Discovery Center Teen Action Fair, Build the City, THING Festival, Washington Filmworks, The Creative Advantage Meet & Greet at SAAM, Rock the Giving Season, Afropunk, and the Changemakers Summit. Artist Booking helps shift the narrative around how creative laborespecially that of young artistsis valued. Our goal is to model equitable pay practices and inspire wider change across the community.
$35,235 spent9% of program spendingThe Stage - Totem Star hosts an artist showcase twice a year plus two open mic nights for The Stage. Not only does The Stage offer opportunities to help plan and produce a show, but it is also a chance for youth to share their artistic voice and take creative risks in front of their peers and communities.
$34,904 spent9% of program spendingLavender Sessions - It is a new space for women and non-binary youth to share music and stories, and provide mutual support for one another.
$2,878 spent1% of program spendingThe Story - It is a monthly event where we invite a local artist to come speak and share their stories with our Totem Star artists.
$945 spent0% of program spendingTotem Star Leadership Collective - Aligned with the school calendar, the Totem Star Leadership Collective (TLC) is our youth advisory board. The TLC meets monthly and makes recommendations on policies, improving programs, and more.
$888 spent0% of program spending
The 7 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $400,284.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2022 to 2023, from $1.0M to $1.7M (+65%).
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: 2020 11% · 2021 24% · 2022 23% · 2023 19% · 2024 51%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
98% of Totem Star’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 5 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 8 funders, grant income rose $184 → $360k.
9 of 29 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 11% 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 Totem Star’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
Totem Star has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 32% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 63% · 2019 71% · 2020 62% · 2021 49% · 2022 24% · 2023 42% — 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
36% of Totem Star's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
81% of Totem Star's grant income comes from Washington funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $224k 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
Totem Star runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 1,928 youth development nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,928 youth development nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like Totem Star
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.
Where the money goes
60% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
72%
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 Totem Star: 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 Totem Star?
- Totem Star (Washington) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,061,919 to it, the largest being THE SATTERBERG FOUNDATION INC ($670,000). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Totem Star have?
- IRS filings report 29 organizations giving $2,061,919 in grants to Totem Star, 18 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Totem Star?
- THE SATTERBERG FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $670,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Totem Star 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.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 29 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