El Sistema Santa Cruz

What it says it does

“to empower the youth and kids of Watsonville and Pajaro Valley by providing them with the keys to unlock their musical heritage and the tools to construct their creative and social legacies through music education.”From the organization's Form 990 for the year ending Jun 2025, as written (including spelling); all-capital text shown in normal capitalization.

El Sistema Santa Cruz finances

From the annual returns the group files with the IRS (Form 990, or the shorter Form 990-EZ for smaller groups), 3 filed years. Net assets are what it owns minus what it owes; management and general is office, admin and insurance cost. A dash means not reported (the short form does not ask for employees or volunteers). Each figure links to that year's return. A year is left out when no return is in the IRS e-file data; that does not mean the group was inactive.

Where the money goes, year ending Jun 2025

• Programs $665,683 (87%)
• Management and general $73,465 (10%)
• Fundraising $29,457 (4%)

Where the money comes from, year ending Jun 2025

• Gifts and grants $1,086,532 (97%)
• Program fees $0 (0%)
• Investment income $30,024 (3%)
• Other $0 (0%)

People: 17 employees and 10 volunteers reported for the year ending Jun 2025. Counts only; BackPR does not publish names of officers or staff.

Revenue trend: Growing. Revenue went from $620,615 (year ending Jun 2022) to $1,116,556 (Jun 2025), about +22% a year.

Growth label: we compare total revenue on the oldest and the newest return shown above. Growing means revenue rose by more than 10% a year on average, Shrinking means it fell by more than 10% a year, and Steady means a change between -10% and +10% a year. The rate is the compounded yearly average between the two returns, so it hides ups and downs in between (see the table). We only label groups with returns at least a year apart and at least $5,000 of revenue on the oldest one. This is our own calculation, not an IRS rating or a judgment of quality.

Source: IRS Form 990 Series Downloads (the returns open on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, which republishes the IRS files). Figures are as the organization filed them. California nonprofit.

How it compares

1 of 5 arts education nonprofits in Santa Cruz when sorted from largest to smallest revenue. This shows size only, not quality. Groups with no reported revenue are listed last.

Size: revenue of $1,116,556 is higher than roughly 80 to 90% of the 246 arts education nonprofits in California that report revenue to the IRS (the city count above also includes groups with none). The median is $179,559.

Our analysis of the IRS Business Master File (posted October 13, 2026), using each group's latest reported revenue. Groups are sorted by revenue and split into ten equal bands, using all California groups of this type (Arts education, which covers several IRS activity codes). Size only, not a rating.

Around Santa Cruz and its county

Santa Cruz County, California: the Census Bureau estimates about 46,196 children under 18 (July 1, 2024). This directory lists 126 youth and community nonprofits with a mailing ZIP code in the county, about 2.7 per 1,000 children. The count includes PTAs, arts and day care groups, so it is not a measure of places for kids.

This group's ZIP code is matched to the county that holds most of its area, so counts are approximate. County figures come from the Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 population estimates.

Licensed programs in Santa Cruz

39 licensed child care centers, 10 school-age programs are in state licensing records and listed in the BackPR finder. The examples below are not related to this organization.

California background check rules for youth programs · How BackPR works for arts education nonprofits

Free forms for arts education nonprofits

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