New York · Nonprofit
A BETTER JAMAICA INC
A BETTER JAMAICA INC (New York) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $484,712 to it, the largest being THE HOWARD GILMAN FOUNDATION INC ($362,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $452k
- Funders on record
- 9
- Grants received
- $485k
- Net assets
- $204k
What A Better Jamaica Inc does
Mission
To engage in activities designed to strengthen the set of Southeast Queens neighborhoods known collectively as Jamaica.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The AirTrain Jazz Festival - The AirTrain Jazz Festival presents thirty-four free live jazz performances on the concouse level of the the AirTrains Jamaica station.
$7,572 spent$10,000 earned by the program2% of program spendingABJs CASA - ABJs CASA Cultural Afterschool Adventures provides free afterschool arts programming in two local elementary schools.
$32,993 spent$40,000 earned by the program8% of program spendingJamaica Reads - Jamaica Reads deploys senior citizens to two local elementary schools where seniors provide one-on-one tutoring to 1st graders struggling with the acquisition of their reading skills.
$30,984 spent$15,000 earned by the program8% of program spendingProgram Service Expenses 11,673, Grants and allocations 0, Revenue 5,000 Classic Film Fridays - Classic Film Fridays presents five free classic movies in downtown Jamaicas Rufus King Park Program Service Expenses 48,758, Grants and allocations 0, Revenue 20,074 Family Movies in the Park - Family Movies in the Park presents sixteen free family-friendly movies across four Jamaicas local parks. Program Service Expenses 4,474, Grants and allocations 0, Revenue 2,615 JACs Holiday Music - JACs Holiday Music presents eight days of free live music on the token booth level of downtown Jamaicas Jamaica Center / Parsons Archer subway station. Program Service Expenses 81,202, Grants and allocations 0, Revenue 91,000 The Jamaica Dance Festival - The Jamaica Dance Festival presents four free Saturday evenings of professional dance companies in downtown Jamaicas Rufus King Park. Program Service Expenses 16,449, Grants and allocations 0, Revenue 15,000 Parsons Plaza Music Festival Program Service Expenses 29,930, Grants and allocations 0, Revenue 32,387 Terminal 7 Music Program Service Expenses 419, Grants and allocations 0, Revenue 0 ABJ New Program Development Program Service Expenses…
$333,958 spent$231,954 earned by the program82% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $405,507.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2019 to 2020, from $66k to $184k (+178%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2018 86% · 2019 77% · 2020 50% · 2021 75% · 2022 57% · 2023 84% · 2024 59%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of A BETTER JAMAICA INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (87% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Greg Mays
Executive Director
Board chair
Gail Lewis
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $10k → $50k.
2 of 9 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 2% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of A BETTER JAMAICA INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
A BETTER JAMAICA INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 75% of grant income and the top three 96%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 58% · 2021 70% · 2022 42% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
50% of A BETTER JAMAICA INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 44% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
98% of A BETTER JAMAICA INC's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $8k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
A BETTER JAMAICA INC has grown faster than half of the 7,117 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 7,117 philanthropy nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Government funding A BETTER JAMAICA INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $80k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$80k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like A BETTER JAMAICA INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for A BETTER JAMAICA INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds A BETTER JAMAICA INC?
- A BETTER JAMAICA INC (New York) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $484,712 to it, the largest being THE HOWARD GILMAN FOUNDATION INC ($362,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does A BETTER JAMAICA INC have?
- IRS filings report 9 organizations giving $484,712 in grants to A BETTER JAMAICA INC, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of A BETTER JAMAICA INC?
- THE HOWARD GILMAN FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $362,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like A BETTER JAMAICA INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds A Better Jamaica →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 9 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing