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Arts Council of Wilmington and New Hanover County at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Arts Council of Wilmington and New Hanover County

To establish the cape fear region as an arts destination, to promote arts- driven economic development, to significantly contribute to quality of life in the region, to provide a stream of funding to support the sustainability of artists and arts organizations, to facilitate communication and collaboration within the arts community, and…

$308k
Granted FY2025still arriving
16
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$735kCivil Rights$8k
02FY2025 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 16 grants below total $142,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $308,205 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $166,205 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k6 grants · $42k
  • $10k–50k10 grants · $100k
$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$225k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Mouth of Babes$10,000
Thalian Hall$10,000
Narrative Arts$10,000
Dreams Center for Arts Education$10,000
Brooklyn Arts Academy$10,000
Cameron Art Museum$10,000
Wilmington Symphony Orchestra$10,000
Thalian Association$10,000
Opera House Theatre Company$10,000
Cucalorus Film Festival$10,000
Panache Theatrical Productions$8,000
Opera Wilmington$8,000
Performance Club Theater Company$8,000
Chamber Music Wilmington$6,000
WHQR$6,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY24–25, $17k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%Narrative Arts: $10k → 12%Techmoja Dance & Theater Co: $7k → 12%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$601k · 17 repeat orgs$143k to everyone else

17 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

17
15

Total granted

$601k
$129k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+33%
+42%

Still filing today

88%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $14k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • TT
    THE THALIAN ASSOCIATON OF WILMINGTON INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $67k · revenue +173%
  • TW
    The Wilmington Symphony Orchestra Inc
    5× · 2021–2025 · $63k · revenue +152%
  • DO
    DREAMS OF WILMINGTON INC
    3× · 2021–2025 · $60k · revenue +112%

Funded once

  • TT
    Turning the Wheel Productions Incgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $17k · revenue +47%
  • NC
    North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmin
    one grant, 2021 · $15k · revenue +10%
  • BD
    BIG DAWG PRODUCTIONS
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Wilkes Playmakers Inc

Provide cultural and artistic programs for the public of Wilkes County, NC and the surrounding area

Arts & Culture
2
Wilmington Symphonic Winds

Wilmington Symphonic Winds is a regional musical ensemble that provides memorable performances of the highest quality wind music in a wide range of musical styles for the public at large and educational outreach. All attendees receive free…

Arts & Culture
3
Durham Ballet Theatre

The primary objective of Durham Ballet Theatre is to offer complimentary community performances in dance, encompassing both ballet and aerial disciplines, to individuals who are underserved due to physical abilities or financial…

Arts & Culture
4
Greenville Theatre Arts Center
—
5
Carolina Theatre of Durham Inc

The Carolina Theatre welcomes everyone. We enrich the experience of audiences through programming that drives the cultural, educational, and economic vitality of the region.

Arts & Culture
6
Vault Theatre Limited

Vault Theatre creates high-quality theatre programming with, for, and by young artists in North Carolina. We help students explore their creative potential through arts-integration in schools, onstage performances, and innovative theatre…

Arts & Culture
7
Wake Forest Cultural Arts Association

Promotion of Arts in Wake Forest, NC

Arts & Culture
8
Pamlico Musical Society

To increase access in Pamlico County to professional-level musical performances, enhance understanding and appreciation of music (classical, jazz, folk, ethnic, bluegrass, Americana, and show tunes) and expand and enrich the music…

Arts & Culture
9
Stewart Owen Dance Inc

To educate, promote and create performing arts.

Arts & Culture
10
Greensboro Opera Company

Greensboro opera is a community-based company dedicated to fostering the growth of opera and to presenting professional productions of the highest artistic caliber for the enjoyment, education, and enrichment of the triad region of north…

Arts & Culture
11
Charlotte Concerts

To bring the finest in internationally acclaimed performing artists to the Charlotte area and to provide educational opportunities to students of all ages.

—
12
Dance Project Inc

Dance Project's mission is to cultivate the field of modern dance in North Carolina, nuturing a community of artists, audiences and students by providing opportunities for training, performance, collaboration and employment.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Theatre for All Inc; the most unlike its peers is Brooklyn Arts Music Academy. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

22 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 22 of the 34 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/22
Grantees still filing
15/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE THALIAN ASSOCIATON OF WILMINGTON INC: $66,500 · Arts & CultureTHE THALIAN ASSOCIATON OF WILMINGTON INCThe Wilmington Symphony Orchestra Inc: $62,950 · Arts & CultureThe Wilmington Symphony Orchestra IncDREAMS OF WILMINGTON INC: $60,000 · Arts & CultureDREAMS OF WILMINGTON INCLOUISE WELLS CAMERON ART MUSEUM: $60,000 · Arts & CultureLOUISE WELLS CAMERON ART MUSEUMCUCALORUS FILM FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Arts & CultureCUCALORUS FILM FOUNDATIONOPERA WILMINGTON NC INC: $43,500 · Arts & CultureOPERA WILMINGTON NC INCThalian Hall Center for the Performing Arts Incorporated: $39,500 · Arts & CultureThalian Hall Center for the Performing Arts IncorporatedTheatre For All Inc: $38,250 · Arts & CultureTheatre For All IncBROOKLYN ARTS MUSIC ACADEMY: $29,500 · Arts & CultureOPERA HOUSE THEATRE COMPANY INC: $27,000 · Arts & Culture+7 more: $83,500 · Arts & Culture+7 moreWILMINGTON BALLET COMPANY: $28,750 · OtherWILMINGTON BALLET COMP…PANACHE THEATRICAL CORPORATION: $14,000 · OtherPANACHE THEATRICAL COR…NORTH CAROLINA JAZZ FESTIVAL INC: $13,700 · OtherNORTH CAROLINA JAZZ FE…BIG DAWG PRODUCTIONS: $10,000 · OtherBIG DAWG PRODUCTIONSCAPE FEAR CULTURAL ASSOCIATION OF INDIA: $9,000 · OtherCAPE FEAR CULTURAL ASS…TECHMOJA DANCE & THEATER COMPANY: $8,500 · OtherTECHMOJA DANCE & THEAT…BLACK ARTS ALLIANCE INC: $8,250 · OtherBLACK ARTS ALLIANCE IN…PERFORMANCE CLUB THEATRE COMPANY: $8,000 · OtherPERFORMANCE CLUB THEAT…MARTIN LUTHER KING JR CELEBRATION COMMITTEE: $8,000 · OtherMARTIN LUTHER KING JR …ELEMENT PRODUCTIONS INC: $7,500 · OtherBLACK BOX DANCE THEATER: $7,500 · OtherCAROLINA BEACH MURAL PROJECT: $6,500 · OtherISLAND ARTS AND CULTURE ALLIANCE: $6,250 · OtherCAPE FEAR JAZZ APPRECIATION SOCIETY INCORPORATED: $6,000 · OtherWILMINGTON ART ASSOCIATION: $5,500 · OtherNARRATIVE ARTS: $27,000 · Human ServicesCAPE FEAR COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $8,250 · Education
Arts & Culture$560,700Other$147,450Human Services$27,000Education$8,250

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE THALIAN ASSOCIATON OF WILMINGTON INC: $66,500 over 5y, 4.3% of budgetThe Wilmington Symphony Orchestra Inc: $62,950 over 5y, 7.4% of budgetDREAMS OF WILMINGTON INC: $60,000 over 3y, 4.8% of budgetLOUISE WELLS CAMERON ART MUSEUM: $60,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetCUCALORUS FILM FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 3y, 3.5% of budgetOPERA WILMINGTON NC INC: $43,500 over 4y, 22% of budgetThalian Hall Center for the Performing Arts Incorporated: $39,500 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetTheatre For All Inc: $38,250 over 3y, 25% of budgetBROOKLYN ARTS MUSIC ACADEMY: $29,500 over 3y, 5.0% of budgetOPERA HOUSE THEATRE COMPANY INC: $27,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetNARRATIVE ARTS: $27,000 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetTurning the Wheel Productions Inc: $16,500 over 1y, 7.4% of budgetMouths of Babes Theatre: $16,000 over 2y, 9.8% of budgetNorth Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmin: $15,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA JAZZ FESTIVAL INC: $13,700 over 2y, 6.3% of budgetFriends of Public Radio DBA WHQR: $12,750 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetChamber Music Wilmington: $11,250 over 2y, 9.3% of budgetCAPE FEAR COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $8,250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBLACK BOX DANCE THEATER: $7,500 over 1y, 7.9% of budgetForward Motion Dance Company Inc: $6,000 over 1y, 30% of budgetWILMINGTON ART ASSOCIATION: $5,500 over 1y, 7.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Landfall Foundati…Dan Cameron Family Fo…North Carolina Commun…Daniel a and Sheila M…Stein Family Charitab…New Hanover Community…Corning Incorporated …Ibm International Fou…Ags Charitable Trust …Jeffrey Schrager & An…The True North Founda…South Arts Inc
The Landfall Foundation IncNC38.7× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Landfall Foundation Inc · Dan Cameron Family Foundation Inc · North Carolina Community Foundation · Daniel a and Sheila M Saklad Foundation · Stein Family Charitable Foundation · New Hanover Community Endowment Inc · Corning Incorporated Foundation · Ibm International Foundation · Ags Charitable Trust Uad May 21 1965 · Jeffrey Schrager & Anne York Family Foundation · The True North Foundation Co Amy Brown North · South Arts Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Arts Council of Wilmington and New Hanover County funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Arts Council of Wilmington and New Hanover County. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 34 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Arts Council of Wilmington and New Hanover County’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

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    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
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    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home