Massachusetts · Nonprofit
COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON INC
COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 75 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,529,028 to it, the largest being POPPLESTONE FOUNDATION ($2,700,000). 38 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.1M
- Funders on record
- 75
- Grants received
- $11M
- Net assets
- $12M
What Community Music Center of Boston Inc does
Mission
Community music center of boston ("cmcb") transforms lives throughout greater boston by providing equitable access to excellent music education and arts experiences.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
Cmcb's youth development program provides mentorship, college/career training, and workforce development through a paid employment model at a wage of $18/hr. Participants tend to be between 14 and 24, and work on a part-time basis (5-25 hours/week) at cmcb's main campus. They work within a music education nonprofit, learning the core functions of running an organization. Participants support work such as program design, marketing, graphic design, research, finance, communication, customer service, and more, providing a well-rounded experience in nonprofit administration.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
Community music center of boston ("cmcb") is a nationally recognized and accredited institution. Core programs include: musical instruction in over 20 instruments and a variety of genres and styles; offerings for a range of individuals, from early childhood classes to advanced performing ensembles; and clinically-certified music therapy services for individuals of all ages. Cmcb supports over 400 individuals to participate each week at its headquarters in the boston center for the arts and nearly 2,500 individuals in partnership with 20 schools, community centers, and social service agencies throughout nearly every neighborhood in boston.
$1,538,006 spentof which $299,611 as grants$819,865 earned by the program63% of program spendingFounded in 1978, cmcb's school programs partner with boston schools to help make music an influential part of every child's education. Cmcb's partnership with over a dozen schools provides weekly music and performing arts instruction to 2,000 students each week. Cmcb strives to provide high-quality music instruction and arts participation opportunities citywide, and provides schools with the capacity-building support necessary to ensure programs can be successfully administered and sustained. Founded at the height of boston's school segregation crisis, the school program is an important part of cmcb's legacy of service to the city of boston.
$473,912 spent$212,878 earned by the program19% of program spendingCmcb's youth development program provides mentorship, college/career training, and workforce development through a paid employment model at a wage of $18/hr. Participants tend to be between 14 and 24, and work on a part-time basis (5-25 hours/week) at cmcb's main campus. They work within a music education nonprofit, learning the core functions of running an organization. Participants support work such as program design, marketing, graphic design, research, finance, communication, customer service, and more, providing a well-rounded experience in nonprofit administration. This program is funded by primarily by grant and contribution revenue.
$287,227 spent12% of program spendingMusic therapy is the skillful use of music to achieve non-musical therapeutic goals, like social, cognitive, physical, and emotional health. Cmcb's music therapy program is led by certified professionals who work with people of all ages to work toward goals in communication, socialization, or independent living. Music therapy services are provided in-house at cmcb's headquarters and in partnerships with nearly a dozen health & human services agencies.
$150,231 spent$102,147 earned by the program6% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,449,376.
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 2022 to 2023, from $6.0M to $10M (+73%).
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 1% · 2018 2% · 2019 2% · 2020 2% · 2021 18% · 2022 20% · 2023 7% · 2024 7% · 2025 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
74% of COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Lecolion Washington
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 31 funders, grant income rose $370k → $3.0M.
8 of 75 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 17% 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 COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 75 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
COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 26% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 70% · 2018 37% · 2019 30% · 2020 20% · 2021 24% · 2022 43% · 2023 67% — 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
42% of COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 51% 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
81% of COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON INC's grant income comes from Massachusetts funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.8M 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
COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON INC 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 COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $195k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$195k
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 COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON 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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
62% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON 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 COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON INC?
- COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 75 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,529,028 to it, the largest being POPPLESTONE FOUNDATION ($2,700,000). 38 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON INC have?
- IRS filings report 75 organizations giving $10,529,028 in grants to COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON INC, 38 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON INC?
- POPPLESTONE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,700,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF BOSTON INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 Community Music Center of Boston →
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 75 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