Virginia · Nonprofit
WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS (Virginia) receives grants from 142 organizations whose IRS filings report $23,354,005 to it, the largest being LINCOLN & THERESE FILENE FOUNDATION INC #0706176 ($2,625,000). 90 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $63M
- Funders on record
- 142
- Grants received
- $23M
- Net assets
- $96M
What Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts does
Mission
To present and create excellent and innovative performing arts programs for the enrichment, education, and enjoyment of diverse audiences and participants.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The filene center venue is located on federal property and Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts and the national park service partner in providing concert and performance programming within the park. The filene center at wolf trap is the only national park dedicated to presenting the performing arts. From late may to early september almost 380,000 patrons at 67 performances were in attendance at shows that included pop, rock, musical theater, symphony & film, dance, opera, and more with an average ticket price of $70. The filene center has the second largest theatrical stage in the country; seats 7,028, nearly 4,000 of which are covered with open sides and views of the tall trees and rolling hills in the park. The remainder of the seating is uncovered on a sloping lawn where patrons can bring picnics to enjoy before & during performances. The barns at wolf trap presents approximately 84 performances from october to early may at our 382 seat indoor venue. Almost 30,000 patrons enjoy legendary artists and exciting up-and-coming talents in a diverse array of musical genres with an average ticket price of $48. The theater was built from two restored 18th century barns and was…
$43,356,653 spent$33,764,963 earned by the program84% of program spendingEach year, wolf trap education delivers high quality arts-learning experiences to 95,000 children and adults, locally, nationally, and internationally. At the heart of wolf trap's education outreach for more than four decades, the wolf trap institute for early learning through the arts (institute) is recognized nationally as a model for incorporating the performing arts into early childhood curricula. Conducting early childhood education through arts integration in 28 states and the district of columbia, including 25 wolf trap institute affiliate sites across the us and in singapore, the institute provides direct services to children birth through 6 years of age and multiplies its impact through professional development for early childhood educators, parents, and caregivers. The institute seeks to address two primary concerns: (1) the learning and development of children who live in economically disadvantaged circumstances; and (2) access to effective professional development for teachers who work with these children. By integrating performing arts strategies into early childhood standards-based instruction, the institute enhances children's cognitive, physical, and…
$4,480,795 spentof which $49,000 as grants$543,744 earned by the program9% of program spendingWolf trap opera (wto), created in 1971, is a highly regarded residency program for opera singers. It offers emerging artists one of the best training and performing experiences in the nation. Our primary tier of filene artists has completed advanced degrees and are already established singers on the verge of professional careers; studio artists are talented student singers considering a career in the field. Alumni have gone on to careers performing with some of the leading opera companies in the world. Wto provides both career guidance and a chance to polish skills needed to advance to the next level and offers an opportunity for our nation's most talented young performers to experience the demands of a professional career in the performing arts. Highly acclaimed performances are held at both the filene center and the barns. In 2023, wolf trap opera mounted highly successful productions of handel's semele, gounod's faust, and mozart's don giovanni. Performances of semele and faust were captured for delayed streaming.
$4,044,516 spentof which $26,060 as grants$428,742 earned by the program8% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $51,881,964.
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 $70M to $94M (+34%).
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 2% · 2018 2% · 2019 2% · 2020 1% · 2021 18% · 2022 14% · 2023 3% · 2024 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
37% of WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
Arvind Manocha
President and CEO
Board chair
Daniel A D'Aniello
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 39 funders to 77 funders, grant income rose $719k → $4.4M.
21 of 142 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 33% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $989k from 8 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest United Way of the National Capital Area). These are real filings, and they are not money WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS raised.
From the IRS filings of WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 142 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
WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 11% of grant income, and it takes 8 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 8 funders to its left
38% 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 WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 16% · 2018 17% · 2019 13% · 2020 20% · 2021 16% · 2022 28% · 2023 13% — 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
52% of WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS'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
WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS draws 62% of its grant income from funders outside Virginia, across 21 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $7.8M 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
WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS has grown faster than half 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 WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $6.1M on record.
- Department of the Interior$5.3M
- National Endowment for the Arts$755k
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 WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
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 Virginia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
74%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 14 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: 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 WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS?
- WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS (Virginia) receives grants from 142 organizations whose IRS filings report $23,354,005 to it, the largest being LINCOLN & THERESE FILENE FOUNDATION INC #0706176 ($2,625,000). 90 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS have?
- IRS filings report 142 organizations giving $23,354,005 in grants to WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, 90 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS?
- LINCOLN & THERESE FILENE FOUNDATION INC #0706176 is the largest funder on record, with $2,625,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. 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 Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts →
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 142 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