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Create Birmingham at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Create Birmingham

To support workforce development, entrepreneurial ventures and job growth in non-profit and commercial creative industries.

$125k
Granted FY2024still arriving
4
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its 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, FY2023 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$175kEnvironment$10kEmployment$10k
02FY2024 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 4 grants below total $40,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $125,000 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $85,000 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.
$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$771k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BIB & TUCKER SEW-OP$10,000
GIRLSPRING INC$10,000
INTOTO CREATIVE ARTS FORUM$10,000
AL ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL$10,000
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 (FY23–23, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 15%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 15%Terrific New Theatre: $5k → 16%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 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
The Birmingham Foundation
—
2
Better World Studios Inc

Supporting creative endeavors for all, with opportunities for learning, growth, discovery and outreach through visual arts and crafts, writing and performance.

Arts & Culture
3
The Broad Art Foundation
Arts & Culture
4
Buffalo Creek Art Center Inc
Arts & Culture
5
Birmingham Artwalk Inc

Showcase establsihed and emerging artist

Arts & Culture
6
Fillmore Community Art Center
Arts & Culture
7
Berggruen Institute
Education
8
Clinton Arts Center
—
9
Metropolitan Arts Center

To cultivate the arts in Jefferson County and the State of Alabama.

Arts & Culture
10
Acorn to Oaks Studios
Arts & Culture
11
The Art Complex Inc
—
12
Bazaar Productions

To provide the community with theater art through the promotion of original works of emerging career artists.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Alabama Envirnomental Council Inc; the most unlike its peers is Burton Family Foundation. 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

11 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. 11 of the 29 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/11
Grantees still filing
6/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DESERT ISLAND SUPPLY CO: $15,000 · OtherDESERT ISLAND SUPPLY COFRIENDS OF THE BIRMINGHAM PUBLIC LIBRARY INC: $15,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF THE BIRMINGHAM PUBLIC LIBRARY INCGreater Birmingham Ministries: $10,000 · OtherGreater Birmingham MinistriesEmily's Heirloom Pound Cakes LLC: $5,000 · OtherScenic View Cafe and Catering: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherNever Go Broke Inc: $5,000 · OtherQuire Consulting LLC: $5,000 · OtherFirst Impressions Marketing Group LLC: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherStudio 2500 Inc: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherHenley & Young LLC: $5,000 · OtherAware Cosmetics Make Up Services: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherMAKEbhm LLC: $5,000 · Other3 Daughters Beauty Supply Store: $5,000 · OtherYogi Dada LLC: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherFOUNDATION FOR ARTS AND CULTURAL CONNECTIONS INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureFOUNDATION FOR…INTOTO CREATIVE ARTS FORUM: $10,000 · Arts & CultureINTOTO CREATIV…BARE HANDS GALLERY INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureBARE HANDS GAL…ALABAMA ENVIRNOMENTAL COUNCIL INC: $10,000 · EnvironmentBIB TUCKER SEW-OP: $10,000 · EmploymentGIRLSPRING INC: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentTerrific New Theatre Inc: $5,000 · Human ServicesBURTON FAMILY FOUNDATION: $5,000 · PhilanthropyALABAMA CENTER FOR ARCHITECTURE: $5,000 · Education
Other$125,000Arts & Culture$25,000Environment$10,000Employment$10,000Youth Development$10,000Human Services$5,000Philanthropy$5,000Education$5,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetDESERT ISLAND SUPPLY CO: $15,000 over 1y, 8.3% of budgetBIB TUCKER SEW-OP: $10,000 over 1y, 25% of budgetGreater Birmingham Ministries: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR ARTS AND CULTURAL CONNECTIONS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetGIRLSPRING INC: $10,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetINTOTO CREATIVE ARTS FORUM: $10,000 over 1y, 8.4% of budgetTerrific New Theatre Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetBURTON FAMILY FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetALABAMA CENTER FOR ARCHITECTURE: $5,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetBARE HANDS GALLERY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.5% 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.

  • Who funds DESERT ISLAND SUPPLY CO ↗
  • Who funds ALABAMA ENVIRNOMENTAL COUNCIL INC ↗
  • Who funds BIB TUCKER SEW-OP ↗
  • Who funds Greater Birmingham Ministries ↗
  • Who funds FOUNDATION FOR ARTS AND CULTURAL CONNECTIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds GIRLSPRING INC ↗
  • Who funds INTOTO CREATIVE ARTS FORUM ↗
  • Who funds Terrific New Theatre Inc ↗
  • Who funds BURTON FAMILY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ALABAMA CENTER FOR ARCHITECTURE ↗
  • Who funds BARE HANDS GALLERY INC ↗

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 Community Foundat…Mike and Gillian Good…The Daniel Foundation…Alabama Power Foundat…Amazonsmile Foundation
The Community Foundation of Greater BirminghamAL17.5× affinity6 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham · Mike and Gillian Goodrich Foundation · The Daniel Foundation of Alabama · Alabama Power Foundation Inc · Amazonsmile Foundation

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 Create Birmingham funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Create Birmingham. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 29 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Create Birmingham’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $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