Arkansas · Nonprofit
ARKANSAS VENTURE CENTER
ARKANSAS VENTURE CENTER (Arkansas) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,163,765 to it, the largest being INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY BANKERS OF AMERICA ($1,016,595). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.2M
- Funders on record
- 7
- Grants received
- $1.2M
- Net assets
- $3.3M
What Arkansas Venture Center does
Mission
The venture center helps startups obtain customer validation & reach viability through systematic programming, premium mentorship that leverages best practices in lean methodology & strategic acceleration with an eye on reaching scale and creating measurable economic impact.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The venture center programmed and launched three accelerators during the year. The arkansas banking solutions accelerator/absa is a continuation of the successful fintech program matching fintech start-ups with banks. The veteran-owned small business accelerator/vosb, in partnership with the arkansas small business administration, is the second cohort of a training and professional education program helping veterans successfully grow their existing small businesses. The arkansas lithium technology accelerator/alta, in partnership with major energy producers, is a new program bringing leading lithium ion battery supply chain technology start-up companies to arkansas, to help build a new lithium economy in support of the nascent lithium mining and refining industry in south arkansas.
$300,270 spent95% of program spendingThe venture center helped program and launch the first arkansas lithium innovation summit, led by arkansas commerce secretary hugh mcdonald, with the goal of educating the lithium/energy industry and other key national and state government, academic and business leaders about the economic potential of the state's lithium reserves in the smackover formation.
$15,998 spent5% of program spendingThe venture center's entrepreneurship and educational programs have substantially contributed to the creation of multiple new companies, the growth of existing small businesses and the renewed innovation of large corporations in the state. The venture center is also fostering and growing a community of members, mentors and partners through curated programming and events ranging from lectures and workshops to social and professional networking events.
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $316,268.
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 $1.5M to $3.5M (+131%).
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 52% · 2018 44% · 2019 8% · 2020 15% · 2021 31% · 2022 13% · 2023 37% · 2024 75%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
94% of ARKANSAS VENTURE CENTER’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (61% 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
Arthur Orduna
Executive director
Board chair
James Hendren
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2021 and FY2022 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $250k → $25k.
2 of 7 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 6% 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 ARKANSAS VENTURE 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
ARKANSAS VENTURE CENTER leans on a few funders — its largest provides 87% of grant income and the top three 97%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 ARKANSAS VENTURE CENTER.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2019 98% · 2020 100% · 2021 79% · 2022 100% · 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.
Where its funders are
ARKANSAS VENTURE CENTER draws 92% of its grant income from funders outside Arkansas, across 2 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $65k 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
ARKANSAS VENTURE CENTER's revenue grew 21% between 2017 and 2024.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,203 community improvement nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like ARKANSAS VENTURE 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 Arkansas
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
24% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
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 ARKANSAS VENTURE 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 ARKANSAS VENTURE CENTER?
- ARKANSAS VENTURE CENTER (Arkansas) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,163,765 to it, the largest being INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY BANKERS OF AMERICA ($1,016,595). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does ARKANSAS VENTURE CENTER have?
- IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $1,163,765 in grants to ARKANSAS VENTURE CENTER, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ARKANSAS VENTURE CENTER?
- INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY BANKERS OF AMERICA is the largest funder on record, with $1,016,595 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ARKANSAS VENTURE CENTER find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Arkansas. 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 Arkansas Venture 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 7 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