Updated April 2026
Arts, Culture & HumanitiesArts, Culture & Humanities Charities in New York
49 arts, culture & humanities nonprofits headquartered in New York report combined revenue of $4.3B on their most recent IRS Form 990 filings, with an average Efficiency Score of 68/100.
The Arts, Culture & Humanities category covers museums, performing-arts organizations, libraries, historical societies, and cultural-heritage groups. 289 entities, $22.0B combined revenue.
Average efficiency in the Arts, Culture & Humanities category is 69/100. Cultural organizations rely on a mix of earned revenue (admissions, tickets), endowment income, and individual donor cycles, which makes the financial pattern distinct from grant-funded program nonprofits. This view filters the category down to New York only. State-level subsets are useful for donors and grant-makers who want to focus support on local organizations.
What the Arts, Culture & Humanities × New York Numbers Show
New York is a major center for arts, culture & humanities nonprofits, with 49 organizations filing under both the Arts, Culture & Humanities NTEE category and a New York principal office. Combined revenue across the group runs into hundreds of millions or more.
Arts, Culture & Humanities in New York narrows 49 organizations down to the intersection of one IRS NTEE category and one state of principal office. The combined view gives a workable head-to-head comparison set for donors focused on a specific region and cause area.
The 49 arts, culture & humanities nonprofits in New York in this view together report $4.3B in combined annual revenue on their most recent IRS Form 990 filings. Median revenue is $51.8M, and the simple average is $88.5M — a gap that reflects the long-tail distribution typical of the nonprofit sector, where a handful of large organizations account for most aggregate dollars.
Across the 49 arts, culture & humanities nonprofits in New York we track, 4 earn an A and 25 earn a B on the Efficiency Score (combined 59% in the top two tiers, with A-grade organizations alone at 8%). Another 20 land at C, 0 at D, and 0 at F — a combined 0% in the bottom two tiers based on program ratio, reserves, growth consistency, and CEO-comp ratio drawn from each organization's most recent Form 990.
Executive compensation detail is reported on Schedule J of the Form 990 and is not always present for every organization in this list — particularly the smaller filers using Form 990-EZ.
The Metropolitan Museum Of Art
Metropolitan Opera Association Inc
Museum Of Modern Art
Lincoln Center For The Performing Arts Inc
American Museum Of Natural History
Sesame Workshop
Friends Of United Hatzalah Inc
Epoch Times Association Inc
Wnet
Royal National Theatre
Whitney Museum Of American Art
Philharmonic Symphony Society Of New York Inc
National September 11 Memorial And Museum At The World Trade Center
Natl Sept 11 Memorial And Museum At The World Trade Center Fdn Inc
Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation
World Trade Center Performing Arts Center Inc
New York City Ballet Inc
Manhattan School Of Music
New York Public Radio
The Carnegie Hall Corporation
Roundabout Theatre Company Inc
Shed Nyc Inc
Pro Publica Inc
New York Historical Society
Carnegie Hall Society Inc
Shen Yun Performing Arts Inc
Brooklyn Institute Of Arts And Sciences
New York Shakespeare Festival
Chautauqua Institution
The Studio Museum In Harlem
Fractured Atlas Inc
Dia Center For The Arts Inc
Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation Inc
Robert Rauschenberg Foundation
Ballet Theatre Foundation Inc
Jazz At Lincoln Center Inc
Statue Of Liberty Ellis Island Foundation Inc
American Council Of Learned Societies
French American School Of New York Inc
Intrepid Museum Foundation Inc
National Minority Supplier Development Council Inc
Bethel Woods Center For The Arts Inc
Vivian Beaumont Theater Inc
New York City Center Inc
New Museum Of Contemporary Art
Tate Americas Foundation
Childrens Museum Of Manhattan
School Of American Ballet Inc
Museum Of Chinese In The America
How to Use This Cross-Section
Pages that intersect a single NTEE category and a single state are the most apples-to-apples comparison NonprofitTruth offers. The donor question they answer is narrow: among the arts, culture & humanities charities operating from a New York office, how does Organization X compare on financial structure to Organization Y? Sort by revenue first to keep scale roughly constant, then sort by Efficiency Score within a tier.
The NonprofitTruth Efficiency Score is a 0–100 composite that summarizes four signals from the Form 990: program-spending ratio (50% of the score), revenue-growth consistency over multiple years (20%), months of fund reserves on the balance sheet (20%), and CEO compensation as a share of revenue (10%). The grade A–F mapping is purely descriptive — it summarizes the financial structure that the 990 reveals, not the social impact, program quality, or outcomes of the work the organization does. Donors evaluating impact should pair these financial signals with program-level evaluations from sources like Charity Navigator, GiveWell, or the organization's own audited reports.
For a broader view of arts, culture & humanities nationwide, see the all-states Arts, Culture & Humanities page; for every nonprofit in New York, see the New York state page. Both views are linked at the bottom of this page.
Source Data and Verification
All financials on this page come from each organization's IRS Form 990 — the federal information return that 501(c)(3) public charities, private foundations, and most other tax-exempt organizations must file annually. The Form 990 is a public document. We ingest it primarily through the ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer feed, which mirrors the IRS Tax-Exempt Organization Search dataset. Original e-file XML and PDF copies of any return can be looked up directly at the IRS, ProPublica, or the Candid (formerly GuideStar) directory.
Every nonprofit in this list links to a profile page that cites the source filing year. The original Form 990 is available free at the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search, the ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, and the Candid (GuideStar) directory.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arts, culture & humanities nonprofits are based in New York?
49 organizations are categorized as Arts, Culture & Humanities on the IRS Form 990 and list a New York principal office address. Combined annual revenue is $4.3B; average Efficiency Score across the group is 68/100.
Are these all the arts, culture & humanities charities operating in New York?
Not necessarily. The list reflects organizations whose Form 990 lists New York as the principal office. National arts, culture & humanities charities that operate programs in New York but headquarter elsewhere appear in their home state’s page instead.
What does the average Efficiency Score of 68/100 represent?
It is the simple average of the NonprofitTruth Efficiency Score across the 49 organizations on this page. The Score weights program-spending ratio (50%), revenue-growth consistency (20%), reserves (20%), and CEO-comp ratio (10%). It is descriptive of financial structure, not of program impact.
Why might two arts, culture & humanities nonprofits in New York score very differently?
Common drivers: a difference in revenue scale (which affects fixed-cost ratios), a capital-campaign year on one side that distorts the program ratio, a reliance on professional fundraisers (counted outside program services on Form 990), or a different mix of program-vs-administrative classification by the organization’s auditor. The 990’s Schedule O narrative usually explains unusual movements.
Where can I see the original Form 990 for these arts, culture & humanities charities?
Each organization links to a profile that cites the source filing year. From the profile, the original return is one click away on the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search and on the ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.
49 arts, culture & humanities nonprofits headquartered in New York report combined revenue of $4.3B on their most recent IRS Form 990 filings, with an average Efficiency Score of 68/100.