California · Nonprofit
AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY (California) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $902,207 to it, the largest being Arts Midwest Incorporated ($200,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $994k
- Funders on record
- 21
- Grants received
- $902k
- Net assets
- $581k
What African-American Shakespeare Company does
Mission
African-American Shakespeare Company was introduced in 1994 to open the realm of classic theatre to a diverse audience, and provide an opportunity and place for actors of color to hone their skills and talent in mastering some of the world's greatest classical roles. We do this by producing work from the canon of classical theatre, including shakespeare and great american and world playwrights, that is lively, entertaining, and relevant.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Production: mainstage productions that are produced 3-4 shows per a season, running from september/october thru may. Shows include shakespeare, cinderella, a black contemporary playwright, and an additional classic production.
$584,634 spent$101,004 earned by the program55% of program spendingArts education and engagement: arts education and engagement are educational training and development for youths and adults. The programs are year-round.
$379,180 spent$7,144 earned by the program36% of program spendingGeneral programs: this includes cost for administration, staff, and other employees on different projects. It also includes any engagement opportunities in the community, such as booth, conference attendance, etc.
$96,504 spent$400 earned by the program9% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,060,318.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 2022 to 2023, from $676k to $840k (+24%).
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: 2019 15% · 2021 35% · 2022 65% · 2023 73% · 2024 63%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
88% of AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 6 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
Sherri Young
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $41k → $50k.
5 of 21 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 16% 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 SHAKESPEARE COMPANY’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 SHAKESPEARE COMPANY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 22% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
73% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 62% · 2018 58% · 2019 46% · 2020 77% · 2021 27% · 2022 32% · 2023 50% — 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
55% of AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY'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
AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY draws 78% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 6 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $141k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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 SHAKESPEARE COMPANY's funding base is broadening — from 3 funders to 7 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 17,953 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Government funding AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $110k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$110k
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 SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
63% 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 AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY: 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 SHAKESPEARE COMPANY?
- AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY (California) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $902,207 to it, the largest being Arts Midwest Incorporated ($200,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY have?
- IRS filings report 21 organizations giving $902,207 in grants to AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY, 11 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY?
- Arts Midwest Incorporated is the largest funder on record, with $200,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Shakespeare Company →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2019–2024), and the filings of 21 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