Grants for theaters

2,198 theaters received at least $21.4 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 3,677 grants made from 2,220 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,800. Of these 2,220 foundations, 75% made just a single grant to theaters, and 5% made grants to four or more theaters. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$21,369,757
Total grant dollars given to theaters
3,677
Number of grants made annually to theaters
2,220
Number of grantmakers funding theaters
$1,800
Median grant size to theaters

Foundations that support theaters

Out of all grants made to theaters, 78% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 65% of the dollar-value of grants to theaters. Foundations funding theaters also made grants to performing arts centers, educational service providers, multiservice human service organizations, music festivals and events, and arts education nonprofits.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
1,745
Medium
 
287
Large
 
188
Small foundations have <$10M in assets. Medium foundations have $10M to $50M in assets. Large foundations have >$50M in assets.

Foundation type

Foundation typeNumber of grantmakers
Community
 
57
Private
 
1,961
Corporate
 
90
Other
 
112

Grants made

Grants made to theatersNumber of grantmakers
1
 
1,679
2-3
 
429
4-10
 
89
11+
 
23

Top 10 foundations supporting theaters

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to theatersNumber of grants made to theatersMedian grant size
Seattle FoundationWAState0.2%78$1,800
Community Foundation of Greater Des MoinesIAState0.3%64$1,687
The Rhode Island FoundationRIMetro0.2%54$1,127
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.0%36$325
Baird FoundationWINational0.6%27$500
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.2%25$500
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.0%23$260
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)TNMetro0.1%22$1,078
James Irvine FoundationCAState0.0%20$884
Hampton Roads Community FoundationVAMetro0.1%18$604

Theaters grantees

Theaters with more than $5 million in total revenues received 74% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 29% of all theaters.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
3,674
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
3

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$1,625
$100k-$500k
 
$1,937
$500k-$1M
 
$1,875
$1M-$5M
 
$1,700
>$5M
 
$1,800

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
New York
 
667
California
 
401
Illinois
 
217
Florida
 
172
Other
 
2,220

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
New York City
 
578
Chicago
 
207
Los Angeles
 
162
Seattle
 
130
Other
 
2,301

Top 25 grants made to theaters

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
American Repertory Theatre (ART)$5,473,469CashHarvard University
Joe's Pub$4,575,000General Support During Fiscal Year 2020.LuEsther T Mertz Charitable Trust
American Repertory Theatre (ART)$3,239,374CashHarvard University
Springfield Community Players$5,000Install Handicap Access RampClaremont Savings Bank Foundation
Center Theatre Group$5,000Support Recipient's ProgramHirshan Family Foundation
Williamstown Theatre Foundation (WTF)$5,000A65 TheaterCommunity Foundation of Louisville
Cadence Theatre Company$5,000General Operating FundsCharlottesville Area Community Foundation
Space / Near & Arnold's School of Performing Arts and Cultural Education$5,000General Operating Support Due To Covid-19Community Foundation of Mendocino County
Mendocino Performing Arts Company$5,000To Support 2020 SeasonCommunity Foundation of Mendocino County
Rochester Community Players$5,000RCP'S Shakespeare Players Program Will Stage Four Shakespeare Or Shakespeare-Related Plays.Livingston Arts
Classic Stage Company (CSC)$5,000See Rider AttachedBarbara Bell Cumming Charitable Trust
Amas Musical Theatre$5,000See Rider AttachedBarbara Bell Cumming Charitable Trust
Clubbed Thumb$5,000See Rider AttachedBarbara Bell Cumming Charitable Trust
5-Star Theatricals$5,000Public Support of Organization MissionThe Stanley and Joyce Black Family FOUNDATION
Latino Theater Company (LATC)$5,000Public Support of Organization MissionThe Stanley and Joyce Black Family FOUNDATION
Theatreworks$5,000GeneralThe Buettner Family Foundation
Soho Repertory Theatre$5,000GeneralJewish Community Foundation of San Diego
New York Theatre Workshop$5,000GeneralJewish Community Foundation of San Diego
Bas Bleu Theatre Company$5,000GeneralJewish Community Foundation of San Diego
Sherman Community Players$5,000GeneralElias and Hanna Regensburger Foundation
Coachella Valley Repertory$5,000To Further the Appreciation of Theatre and Performing ArtsMcdonald-Wright Foundation
La Jolla Playhouse$5,000Support Innovative Compelling TheaterWithington Foundation
The Toledo REP$5,000General SupportGreater Toledo Community Foundation
Long Wharf Theatre$5,000Charitable EventNewCity Foundation
Everyman Theatre$5,000Unrestricted GeneralHelen Pumphrey Denit TR Char and Educ Purposes
Methodology: To determine grants and grantees, Cause IQ analyzes electronically-filed Form 990, Form 990-EZ, and Form 990-PF financial disclosure documents, matching grantees to specific organizations using EINs and fuzzy matching logic. The "Theaters" category for this page is determined by the "A65: Theater" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.