New York · Nonprofit
CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INC
CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INC (New York) receives grants from 32 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,262,830 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($1,900,000). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $5.1M
- Funders on record
- 32
- Grants received
- $6.3M
- Net assets
- $4.0M
What Cave Canem Foundation Inc does
Mission
To cultivate the artistic and professional growth of african american poets; promote public appreciation of the many voices of african american poetry.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
All other accomplishments annual retreat consists of a week-long flagship writing retreat providing black poets the opportunity to learn and write alongside peers and world-class faculty at the university of pittsburgh at greenburg, pa. Prizes extend an avenue to the publishing sector for black poets. Among our three awards, the eponymous cc poetry prize (established in 2000) is the most significant award, given to a poet for a full length, debut collection, along with monetary supplement. Participation in conferences and convening such as awp and dodge poetry festival. Other programs include grants & re-granting and residences.
$730,071 spent75% of program spendingReadings are hosted virtually and in venues across new york city. Four reading series feature recent publications (new works), debut collections (first books), talks with preeminent poets (in conversation), an annual symposium (legacy series), and more.
$130,601 spent13% of program spendingRegional workshops across the u.s. Provide emerging adult poets a rare opportunity to receive rigorous instruction with accomplished poets.
$109,674 spent11% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $970,346.
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 2023 to 2024, from $1.2M to $4.1M (+232%).
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 8% · 2018 4% · 2019 7% · 2020 12% · 2021 31% · 2022 7% · 2023 13% · 2024 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
99% of CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (48% 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
Elisha Willis
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 18 funders, grant income rose $127k → $1.3M.
6 of 32 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 3% 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 CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INC’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
CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 30% of grant income and the top three 60%; 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: 2017 32% · 2018 33% · 2019 43% · 2020 54% · 2021 23% · 2022 62% · 2023 32% — 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
44% of CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 66% 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
55% of CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION 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. $202k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 11,752 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,752 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $405k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$405k
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 CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION 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
56% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
44%
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 CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION 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 CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INC?
- CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INC (New York) receives grants from 32 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,262,830 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($1,900,000). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 32 organizations giving $6,262,830 in grants to CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INC, 21 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION INC?
- THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,900,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION 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 Cave Canem →
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 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