Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER
AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 27 organizations whose IRS filings report $27,335,039 to it, the largest being RICHARD KING MELLON FOUNDATION ($10,400,000). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $7.8M
- Funders on record
- 27
- Grants received
- $27M
- Net assets
- $11M
What African American Cultural Center does
Mission
The mission of the august wilson African American Cultural Center is to own and operate a home for the arts, storytelling, learning and exchange around the african american experience and the rich culture of the african diaspora. The awaacc is a not-for-profit arts and culture organization that offers a variety of visual and performing arts programs, community engagement and education initiatives to diverse audiences, including school aged students, families, and senior citizens. Many visual art experiences have educational curriculum built within it, providing a deeper dive into the art work and the artist. The awaacc also provides a youth writers camp, family community day events, and special visual art tours.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
The African American Cultural Center (aacc) was formed by three foundations in pittsburgh, pennsylvania to acquire a building known as the august wilson center (center) out of receivership. The aacc exists to own, operate and preserve the center as a vibrant community asset focused primarily on producing and presenting african american arts and cultural programming to the general public. The center includes seven exhibition galleries, a 486 seat theater, an education center, a 4,000 square foot gallery for art exhibits, and multiple-use spaces for community events.
$4,479,892 spent$839,633 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $4,479,892.
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 $10M to $14M (+31%).
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: 2017 15% · 2018 9% · 2019 20% · 2020 16% · 2021 9% · 2022 14% · 2023 9% · 2024 10%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
89% of AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Janis Burley Wilson
President & CEO
Board chair
Tracey Mccants Lewis
Board chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 10 funders, grant income rose $54k → $3.8M.
6 of 27 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 7% 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 AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER’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
AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER leans on a few funders — its largest provides 38% of grant income and the top three 84%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 54% · 2019 82% · 2020 40% · 2021 42% · 2022 36% · 2023 37% — diversifying over time.
“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 AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% 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
94% of AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER's grant income comes from Pennsylvania funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 5,136 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,136 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $143k on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$98k
- National Endowment for the Arts$45k
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 AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER
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 Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
65% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
58%
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 AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER: 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 AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER?
- AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 27 organizations whose IRS filings report $27,335,039 to it, the largest being RICHARD KING MELLON FOUNDATION ($10,400,000). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER have?
- IRS filings report 27 organizations giving $27,335,039 in grants to AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER, 14 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER?
- RICHARD KING MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $10,400,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. 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 African American Cultural Center →
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 27 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing