Research Digest: The Data Issue

Written By Alejandra Duque

June 6, 2026

A green triangle is floating in the air "Arts Service Organizations Research" is to its right in black text. Underneath is a dark green graphic titled “Understanding Organizations in a Changing Arts Ecosystem” in black text.

What We’re Learning

Our team continues to make incredible progress and is looking forward to launching the 2026 National ASO Survey this summer. This Research Digest is a special issue focused on preliminary data findings coming out of our review of financial and workforce data from IRS tax filings for 4,860 ASO’s identified in Phase 1.

Highlights include:

  • 54% of ASOs are small-scale and small-budget, with annual expenses of less than $50K.

  • 32% of ASOs are 40 years or older, with the oldest being 141 years old.

  • 68% of ASO revenue, on average, comes from contributed sources.

These findings are a small piece of what we’ve been working on and will inform the data we collect through the 2026 National ASO Survey. Check out the opportunities to engage and research next steps below.

54% OF ASOS ARE SMALL-SCALE AND SMALL-BUDGET, WITH ANNUAL EXPENSES OF LESS THAN $50K.

Bar chart titled "ASO Expenses" with green bars.

Figure 1: Annual ASO expenses based on IRS filings from 2023. All 990N filers (e-Postcards) are classified as ‘Less than $50K.’ This bar graph illustrates the distribution of ASOs by total annual expenses. The x-axis represents 9 budget categories ranging from less than $50,000 to $25 million or more, while the y-axis shows the percentage of ASOs within each category. Each bar represents the share of ASOs reporting annual expenses within the corresponding expenditure range.

The majority of ASOs are small, grassroots organizations. This finding aligns with information published by the National Center for Charitable Statistics which indicates that 60% of arts organizations do not file a full IRS 990 because they have expenses of less than $50K. This means that there is limited publicly available information about small-budget ASOs. Given this gap, we are working to prioritize their participation in the 2026 National Arts Service Organization Survey.

 

32% OF ASOS ARE 40 YEARS OR OLDER, WITH THE OLDEST BEING 141 YEARS.

Bar chart titled "Age of ASOs" with yellow bars.

Figure 2: Age of ASOs as of 2023. This bar graph illustrates the distribution of ASOs by number of years since incorporation. The x-axis shows the percentage of ASOs in each age category, while the y-axis includes 6 age ranges spanning from less than 5 years to 40 or more. Each bar represents the share of ASOs within the corresponding expenditure range.

ASOs have emerged relatively consistently over a 40+ year period. IRS data provides detail on the longevity of organizations with budgets of over $50K (1,450 ASOs). Of these, about one-third were less than 20 years old, one third were 20-40 years old and one third were more than 40 years old as of 2023. Fifteen were more than 100 years old, including The Actors Fund, National Association of Women Artists, National Federation of Music Clubs, American Association of Museums, National Association for Music Education, American Federation of Arts, and the Poetry Society Of America.

 

68% OF ASO REVENUE COMES FROM CONTRIBUTED SOURCES

Pie chart titled "ASO Revenue" with red, green, and light blue colors.

Figure 3: Average annual ASO revenue by revenue category. This pie chart illustrates the average distribution of ASO revenue by type of revenue.  The three categories are Contributed Revenue, Program Service Revenue, and Other Revenue.

ASOs are highly reliant on contributed revenue. On average, 2,341 ASOs raised more than two-thirds of revenue from a combination of individuals, corporations, foundations, and government sources in a recent fiscal year (see data note at the end of this section.) They earned an average of 27% of revenue from program services, with the balance (5% avg) coming from other resources such as royalties, rentals, fundraising events, retail, or otherwise.

WE NEED MORE DATA ON ASOS

These preliminary findings highlight the need for more data on ASOs, particularly small-budget, grassroots organizations. While financial data is a key component of understanding how ASOs operate it does not tell the full story. As we prepare for the launch of the 2026 National ASO Survey, we invite you to spread the word about the research to ASO leaders in your networks. Mapping ecosystems can help strengthen them. Help us tell a fuller story and check out the opportunities to engage below.

Data Note: 

This data examines tax filing data from 4,845 entities currently included in the National ASO List & Dataset.  There was no filing found, and thus no data included, for 457 entities. In addition, there is very limited information for 2,027 IRS 990-N (Postcard) filers, which are assumed to have expenses of under $50K. Other financial data points are not available for Postcard filing organizations. For the remaining 2,359 organizations, data from the most recent complete tax filing (990 or 990EZ) were collected and analyzed to the extent possible using a combination of 2023 and 2024 figures.  

Opportunities to Engage

  • Communication Partnerships: Do you lead a network or ASOs or serve ASOs through your programs? Consider becoming a Communication Partner for Phase 2 National Scan! Paid opportunities available. Contact admin@consultingadc.com for more details.

  • Spread the word: Do you know an ASO leader who would be interested in learning more about the research or participating? Spread the word by forwarding this message or invite them to visit www.consultingadc.com/asoresearch to learn more.

  • Sign up for the ASO Research Digest: Was this email forwarded to you?Sign up to get periodic ASO Research updates or read April 2026’s Research Digest.

  • Find an ASO near you: Check out the Phase 1 National ASO List & Data Tool(2024) to find the closest ASO near you! The tool is intended to be an interactive database with the option to filter by state, region, arts service focus, disciplines, services, and more.

What’s Next

  • Ongoing meetings with the ASO Advisory Cohort

  • Ongoing development of new and improved National ASO List & Data Tool

  • Launch of the 2026 National ASO Survey

Learn more by visiting consultingadc.com/asoresearch or by downloading the ASO Research Overview. 

ADC Consulting is a fiscally sponsored project of IndieSpace. The first phase of Understanding Arts Service Organizations in a Changing Arts Ecosystem was made possible with leadership support from the Mellon Foundation. The second phase of the research is made possible with the generous support of the Ford Foundation. The research, its process, outcomes, and/or publications are independently led and created by ADC Consulting and are not commissioned by either funding entity nor do they represent their views.

Alejandra Duque
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An Open Letter from Alejandra