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North Carolina · Nonprofit

WorkingFilms Inc

WorkingFilms Inc (North Carolina) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,580,596 to it, the largest being JOHN D AND CATHERINE T MACARTHUR FOUNDATION ($2,367,000). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$1.0M
Funders on record
25
Grants received
$7.6M
Net assets
$1.3M
12/25 repeat fundersgrants exceed reported revenue in one year
01What it does

What WorkingFilms Inc does

Mission

Recognizing the power of film to inspire, Working Films positions documentaries to increase civic engagement and shift culture at the local, state, and national level.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Program

  1. Working Films offers funding and in-kind support to underrepresented filmmakers. Additionally, it shares its learning and fosters dialogue to further the field of documentary for change. Working Films leads conversations and trainings with grassroots groups and nonprofits to ensure that nonfiction media is increasingly embraced as a critical resource in their strategies for social change.

    $1,353,490 spentof which $153,000 as grants$66,690 earned by the program
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,353,490.

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 ($621k) Expenses 100 ($299k) Net assets 100 ($366k)2018 Revenue 119 ($736k) Expenses 217 ($647k) Net assets 125 ($456k)2019 Revenue 84 ($520k) Expenses 235 ($703k) Net assets 268 ($981k)2020 Revenue 200 ($1.2M) Expenses 290 ($866k) Net assets 371 ($1.4M)2021 Revenue 150 ($934k) Expenses 365 ($1.1M) Net assets 328 ($1.2M)2022 Revenue 224 ($1.4M) Expenses 370 ($1.1M) Net assets 407 ($1.5M)2023 Revenue 290 ($1.8M) Expenses 531 ($1.6M) Net assets 554 ($2.0M)2024 Revenue 167 ($1.0M) Expenses 577 ($1.7M) Net assets 366 ($1.3M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (167)Expenses (577)Net assets (366)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 2023 to 2024, from $2.1M to $1.4M (−35%).

$373k
$470k
$1.0M
$1.4M
$1.2M
$1.5M
$2.1M
$1.4M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
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
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

92% of WorkingFilms Inc’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 5,377 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$322k
’17
$90k
’18
−$183k
’19
$378k
’20
−$156k
’21
$286k
’22
$217k
’23
−$689k
’24
9.6
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.

Board chair

Felix Endara

Chairman

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed1514121515121920
Joined·+4+1+3+2+0+7+4
No longer listed·5302303
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 9 funders, grant income rose $335k → $1.8M.

6 of 25 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 WorkingFilms 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

WorkingFilms Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 31% of grant income and the top three 69%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

31%
largest funder
69%
top three
~5
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 90% · 2018 98% · 2019 59% · 2020 30% · 2021 29% · 2022 32% · 2023 28% — 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 WorkingFilms Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 48% 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

WorkingFilms Inc draws 97% of its grant income from funders outside North Carolina, across 9 states in all.

IL
NY
MA
PA
MD
DE
NC
GA
FL

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

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

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $848k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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

WorkingFilms Inc holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−67% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve9.6mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)8% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Government funding WorkingFilms Inc receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $20k on record.

Federal$20k
grants $20kcontracts $0
Top agencies
  • National Endowment for the Arts$20k

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 WorkingFilms 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 North Carolina

Nationally

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

79% of spending goes to programs.

Program 79%Management 14%Fundraising 7%

Governance

15
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

99%

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

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

NC

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WorkingFilms 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 WorkingFilms Inc?
WorkingFilms Inc (North Carolina) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,580,596 to it, the largest being JOHN D AND CATHERINE T MACARTHUR FOUNDATION ($2,367,000). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does WorkingFilms Inc have?
IRS filings report 25 organizations giving $7,580,596 in grants to WorkingFilms Inc, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of WorkingFilms Inc?
JOHN D AND CATHERINE T MACARTHUR FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,367,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like WorkingFilms Inc find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. 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 2017–2024), and the filings of 25 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