North Carolina · Nonprofit
ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL
ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL (North Carolina) receives grants from 32 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,807,669 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC ($644,270). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.3M
- Funders on record
- 32
- Grants received
- $1.8M
- Net assets
- $1.2M
What Asheville Area Arts Council does
Mission
The mission of artsavl is to keep the arts at the heart of our community. The arts council fulfills its mission by supporting arts professionals and businesses in buncombe county through connection, advocacy, and grants.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Grant programs - in fy25, artsavl continued to serve as a primary steward of creative-sector investment by regranting $392,432 through 100 grants to 83 arts organizations and artists in the 20252026 funding cycle, supporting programming for approximately 306,757 individuals. In addition to its five core grant programs, artsavl administered two significant relief grant initiatives in response to hurricane helene, delivering $1.4 million in direct assistance to artists and creative businesses across western north carolina. These funds helped stabilize the region's cultural workforce, sustain arts organizations during a critical period, and accelerate recovery efforts throughout multiple counties.
$2,063,546 spentof which $1,974,767 as grants87% of program spendingConnection - in fy25, artsavl strengthened community engagement through the launch of redefine the weekend, a bold countywide campaign designed to reconnect residents and visitors with buncombe county's creative community following the impacts of hurricane helene. The initiative promoted arts experiences in downtown asheville, the river arts district, black mountain, and weaverville through a regional arts guide, digital and print advertising, storytelling content, and a new online hub. Supported by continued enhancements to the creative portal, these efforts increased visibility for artists and arts organizations, drove traffic back to cultural districts, and reinforced the essential role of the arts in community recovery.
$130,478 spent$51,688 earned by the program6% of program spendingAdvocacy programs - in fy25, artsavl advanced its leadership in cultural planning and policy by laying the groundwork for buncombe county's first cultural recovery plan, a comprehensive 20262030 roadmap to rebuild a stronger and more resilient arts ecosystem after hurricane helene. To support data-driven advocacy, artsavl launched several major research initiatives, including cultural asset mapping, a creative economy report, and studies examining the music industry and the craft supply chain in western north carolina. During this period, artsavl was also contracted by the north carolina arts council to serve as the point person for arts recovery across western north carolina, coordinating regional needs, supporting local creatives, and ensuring that the arts were fully represented in both immediate recovery efforts and long-term planning discussions.
$165,783 spent7% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,359,807.
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 2024 to 2025, from $391k to $1.3M (+225%).
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 38% · 2018 32% · 2019 34% · 2020 48% · 2021 74% · 2022 57% · 2023 84% · 2024 51% · 2025 18%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
96% of ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL’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. 5 of the last 9 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
Katie Cornell
Executive director/secretary
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 7 funders, grant income rose $8k → $81k.
14 of 32 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 59% 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 ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 32 funders by total. 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
ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 36% 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
72% 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 ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 87% · 2022 28% · 2023 62% — 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
83% of ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 25% 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
59% of ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $737k that is directly attributable, 53% of it comes from North Carolina funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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
ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $185k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$185k
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 ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL
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 North Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
95% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
91%
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 ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL: 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 ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL?
- ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL (North Carolina) receives grants from 32 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,807,669 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC ($644,270). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL have?
- IRS filings report 32 organizations giving $1,807,669 in grants to ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL?
- THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC is the largest funder on record, with $644,270 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ASHEVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 32 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