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Illinois · Nonprofit

United States Artists Inc

United States Artists Inc (Illinois) receives grants from 125 organizations whose IRS filings report $66,395,117 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($13,800,250). 57 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$9.6M
Funders on record
125
Grants received
$66M
Net assets
$56M
57/125 repeat fundersgrants exceed reported revenue in one year
01What it does

What United States Artists Inc does

Mission

To invest in america's finest artists and illuminate the value of artists to society.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Usa fellowships are $50,000 unrestricted awards for individual artists and collaboratives across the united states and its territories and awarded in the following disciplines: architecture, crafts, dance, film, media, music, theater and performance, traditional arts, visual art, and writing. They are awarded to artists at any career stage - emerging, mid-career, and established. Each year, the fellowship recognizes artists who demonstrate artistic excellence, innovative vision, significant impact to the cultural landscape, and professional momentum. Usa berresford prize is an annual award that honors cultural practitioners who have contributed significantly to the advancement, wellbeing, and care of artists in society.

    $3,586,645 spentof which $2,500,000 as grants$2,735,180 earned by the program
    51% of program spending
  2. Collaborative projects with other organizations to research, create, document, and facilitate new award programs and services to support artists.

    $3,193,515 spentof which $1,500,000 as grants$2,886,733 earned by the program
    46% of program spending
  3. The national arts policy alliance (napa) and artists capital funds (acf) are collaborative projects with organizations and individuals in the field of arts and culture, focused on researching existing policy and financial barriers facing individual artists. Napa evaluates the need for an organization that connects artists with research, policy, and coalition resources to support gig-economy artists. Acf examines challenges related to cash flow, growth, and sustainability while reviewing existing resources and potential improvements to financial resources for artists. Together, napa and acf aims to build research and program infrastructure that enhances the economic well-being of artists and strengthens their essential role in society.

    $225,146 spent$211,335 earned by the program
    3% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,005,306.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($7.9M) Expenses 100 ($3.8M) Net assets 100 ($25M)2018 Revenue 74 ($5.8M) Expenses 106 ($4.1M) Net assets 115 ($29M)2019 Revenue 54 ($4.2M) Expenses 112 ($4.3M) Net assets 117 ($29M)2020 Revenue 73 ($5.7M) Expenses 149 ($5.7M) Net assets 117 ($29M)2021 Revenue 160 ($13M) Expenses 163 ($6.3M) Net assets 168 ($42M)2022 Revenue 86 ($6.8M) Expenses 222 ($8.5M) Net assets 131 ($33M)2023 Revenue 204 ($16M) Expenses 184 ($7.1M) Net assets 179 ($45M)2024 Revenue 136 ($11M) Expenses 274 ($10M) Net assets 196 ($49M)2025 Revenue 122 ($9.6M) Expenses 216 ($8.3M) Net assets 221 ($56M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (122)Expenses (216)Net assets (221)Peer revenue range

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 $41M to $51M (+25%).

$34M
$36M
$37M
$42M
$50M
$41M
$51M
$56M
$64M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2019 0% · 2020 3% · 2021 0% · 2023 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

28% of United States Artists Inc’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 5,395 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$4.1M
’17
$1.8M
’18
−$66k
’19
$51k
’20
$6.4M
’21
−$1.7M
’22
$9.1M
’23
$247k
’24
$1.4M
’25
16
months of
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

Judilee Reed

President and CEO

Board chair

Edward Henry

Chair

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 11 funders to 23 funders, grant income rose $602k → $4.3M.

19 of 125 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 25% 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 United States Artists Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 125 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

United States Artists Inc has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 21% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left

27% 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 United States Artists Inc.

21%
largest funder
41%
top three
~13
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 35% · 2018 47% · 2019 48% · 2020 44% · 2021 41% · 2022 20% · 2023 31% — 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

16% of United States Artists Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 46% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

United States Artists Inc draws 96% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 20 states in all.

AK
VT
MT
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
OR
OH
PA
CA
UT
CO
NE
VA
MD
DE
TX
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Illinois out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $16M arriving through sponsors registered in 13 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

United States Artists Inc holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits its size.

Operating margin14% · above the median
Months of reserve16.1mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)2% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Government funding United States Artists Inc receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $90k on record.

Federal$90k
grants $90kcontracts $0
17
18
19
Top agencies
  • National Endowment for the Arts$90k

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 United States Artists 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 Illinois

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

85% of spending goes to programs.

Program 85%Management 8%Fundraising 7%

Governance

10
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention–Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

55%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 50 states

AK
ME
VT
NH
WA
ID
MT
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
WY
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
HI
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
TX
FL

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for United States Artists 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 United States Artists Inc?
United States Artists Inc (Illinois) receives grants from 125 organizations whose IRS filings report $66,395,117 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($13,800,250). 57 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does United States Artists Inc have?
IRS filings report 125 organizations giving $66,395,117 in grants to United States Artists Inc, 57 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of United States Artists Inc?
THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $13,800,250 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like United States Artists Inc find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. 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 United States Artists →

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 125 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing