Oregon · Nonprofit
WATER IN THE DESERT INC
WATER IN THE DESERT INC (Oregon) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $140,569 to it, the largest being THE MAP FUND INC ($40,919). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2022
- $49k
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $141k
- Net assets
- $68k
What Water in the Desert Inc does
Mission
Water in the Desert is a Portland-based arts and ecology not for profit organization dedicated to offering innovative, interdisciplinary and accessible artistic programing.
As stated on its FY2022 Form 990-EZ.
Program
The Subsidized Space Program (SSP) is Water in the Desert's primary programming that offers free studio and theater space primarily to artists, organizers, and healers who identify at the intersections of Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Disabled, Immigrant, Trans, Elder, Queer, Low income communities. In 2022 we served 66 residents through SSP. We estimate that through their participation in our program, an additional 800 people attended and/or engaged in events hosted by SSP residents. In 2022, we received $29,700 in grants and $25,000 from one foundation to support this program. SSP expenses include: Rent - $23759.04 SSP Stipends - $3600 Admin - roughly 60% of contractor time is dedicated to SSP - $14,040 Internet - $1080 For more than 10 years, Water in the Desert has worked diligently to present and support Butoh, a movement and expressive form that emerged out of post-WWII Japan, in opposition to the events that took place during that violent moment of history and Japan's imperial position. WitD has supported additional experimental dance, theater, circus, and numerous avant-garde expressions, as well as hosting local and international artists of varied backgrounds and…
$42,479 spentof which $54,700 as grants100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2022 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $42,479.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2019 to 2020, from $59k to $112k (+89%).
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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 6 reported years ran a deficit.
Leadership and staff
Chief executive
Jill A Roberts
executive director
As listed on its FY2022 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $41k → $4k.
From the IRS filings of WATER IN THE DESERT INC’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
WATER IN THE DESERT INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 29% of grant income and the top three 81%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
52% 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 WATER IN THE DESERT INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 74% · 2021 86% · 2022 56% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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.
Where its funders are
71% of WATER IN THE DESERT INC's grant income comes from Oregon funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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.
Organizations like WATER IN THE DESERT 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 Oregon
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WATER IN THE DESERT 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.
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 WATER IN THE DESERT INC?
- WATER IN THE DESERT INC (Oregon) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $140,569 to it, the largest being THE MAP FUND INC ($40,919). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WATER IN THE DESERT INC have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $140,569 in grants to WATER IN THE DESERT INC, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WATER IN THE DESERT INC?
- THE MAP FUND INC is the largest funder on record, with $40,919 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WATER IN THE DESERT INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Oregon. 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 Water in the Desert →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2022 (financials across 2017–2022), and the filings of 5 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