Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY
WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 57 organizations whose IRS filings report $14,160,593 to it, the largest being Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts ($9,294,956). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $10M
- Funders on record
- 57
- Grants received
- $14M
- Net assets
- $15M
What Washington Performing Arts Society does
Mission
Washington performing arts champions the arts as a unifying force. Through collaborations with artists, educators, community leaders, and institutional partners, we bring wide-ranging artistic programs to stages, schools, and neighborhoods throughout our nation's capital and, with our virtual platform, share our work throughout the world.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Since its 1965 founding by arts visionary patrick hayes, washington performing arts (wpa) has been one of america's most dynamic producers and presenters of live performance, arts education, and community engagement for almost 60 years. Guided by hayes' founding principle of "everybody in, nobody out," wpa presents performances across the washington metropolitan area in a range of venues. Through its multi-disciplinary approach, wpa demonstrates the uplifting power of live performance while building bridges. Its integrated focus creates lasting impact extending far beyond the concert hall, fostering a more connected and culturally vibrant community. Wpa presents classical music, gospel, jazz, and music from culturally specific traditions featuring both renowned and emerging artists, as well as newly commissioned works.
$1,921,758 spent$1,459,928 earned by the program45% of program spendingWashington performing arts is a national leader in collaborative arts education including performances, residencies, classroom instruction, and teacher resources that reach dc public/charter schools across all eight wards, plus maryland and virginia. The embassy adoption program is a 50-year partnership with the dc public schools connecting students with embassies/diplomatic entities for cultural understanding and appreciation. The concerts in schools program delivers transformative live performances and hands-on workshops in music, dance, theater, storytelling, and visual arts. The capital arts partnership embeds teaching artists in classrooms for immersive, year-long residencies.
$907,461 spentof which $8,220 as grants$58,335 earned by the program21% of program spendingOur signature community engagement initiative mars arts dc provides dynamic free performances in parks, clubs, street festivals, libraries, and public spaces while helping local artists build audiences. Also central to our work is a deep investment in gospel music programs, which provide training and performance opportunities for our three resident choirs, preserving, elevating, and passing on this vital american artistic tradition to future generations.
$602,067 spent$84,032 earned by the program14% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$823,599 spent19% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,254,885.
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 2023 to 2024, from $13M to $19M (+46%).
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 6% · 2018 13% · 2019 4% · 2020 13% · 2021 31% · 2022 11%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
69% of WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (58% 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
Jennifer Bilfield-Friedman
President & CEO
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 21 funders to 20 funders, grant income rose $517k → $782k.
18 of 57 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 13% 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 WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 57 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
WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 66% of grant income and the top three 82%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 34% · 2018 40% · 2019 33% · 2020 33% · 2021 31% · 2022 24% · 2023 26% — 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
41% of WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% 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
WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY draws 97% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 14 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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
WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 772 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 772 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $480k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$289k
- Department of Defense$192k
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 WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY
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, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
53% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
65%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY: 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 WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY?
- WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 57 organizations whose IRS filings report $14,160,593 to it, the largest being Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts ($9,294,956). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 57 organizations giving $14,160,593 in grants to WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY, 36 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY?
- Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts is the largest funder on record, with $9,294,956 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 Performing Arts Society →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 57 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