Texas · Nonprofit
COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF HOUSTON
COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF HOUSTON (Texas) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $954,466 to it, the largest being Houston Arts Alliance ($329,441). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $601k
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $954k
- Net assets
- $493k
What Community Music Center of Houston does
Mission
To Preserve Black Music Traditions that the community is seldom exposed to or is in danger of being lost. This is done through Performances Music Education and collaborating with communities as well as providing performance opportunities for Classical Black Musicians.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
As part of our Music Education mission CMCH began visiting elementary and high schools in the greater Houston area multiple times during the months in late spring and summer to offer music classes. Our instructors focused on string instruments violin viola cello etc. piano and vocal skills. Subsequently students showcased their progress through performances at their schools occasionally performing alongside members of CMCHs Scott Joplin Chamber Orchestra.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
The Community Music Center of Houston CMCH presented a diverse array of performances during the Performance Season featuring annual events such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Tribute this year at St. Marys Catholic Church the Black History Month Concert this year one was at Grace Episcopal Church and another at the Eldorado Ballroom Philly Soul Concert V at Miller Outdoor Theatre and the Legacy Project at the Eldorado Building. These performances celebrated and promoted Black music traditions by offering a wide range of genres including classical music by black composers spirituals jazz and Rhythm & Blues. One of the key initiatives of CMCH the Legacy Project is a tribute that recognizes and commemorates artists and music contributors such as entrepreneurs musicians and music teachers who have made significant contributions to Black music traditions. The projects primary objective is to honor their legacy preserve their history and educate present and future generations about their invaluable impact on music culture. The Legacy Project consists of Concert and Art Exhibit with Artist Talk Events serving as a platform to showcase the rich history and cultural significance of…
$187,908 spentof which $500 as grants62% of program spendingMusic Education Individual Lessons Groups lessons Classes Student Recitals School programs youth community performances and programs etc. We did expand our reach into K-12 schools this year by providing free music training for the students and concerts in which they could participate. We had at least 300 students. For private and group lessons we have about 12 to 24 music students vocal and instrumental. Our summer music camp had about 20 students with 50 audience members at the Finale Concert. Each of the 2 student recitals had 14 to 24 students with about 100 audience members.
$48,789 spent$10,883 earned by the program16% of program spendingCMCHs encompassed a diverse range of bookings of our music groups and musicians exemplified by events like the Scott Joplin Chamber Orchestras concert at the African American Museum in Dallas which had an audience of over 500 to 1000 and smaller ensemble performances at weddings parks community centers and museums. For this fiscal year CMCH collaborated with an Indian Dance Arts company for the Kindred Spirits concerts recognizing both Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Ghandhi similarity and accomplishments through Indian Song and especially Indian traditional dancing to CMCH string ensembles music. Some 200 to 500 were at both events. During the period under review CMCH did not provide Umbrella Programming a service designed to assist organizations lacking 501c3 status in securing funding from governmental or other grant sources.
$48,476 spent$38,475 earned by the program16% of program spendingVarious archival and inventory projects of music history programs instruments and supplies; space rental for these supplies; plus additional minor programming projects. Grant amounts are other assistance donations to domestic organizations and individuals.
$17,744 spentof which $2,374 as grants6% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $302,917.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
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 $420k to $668k (+59%).
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: 2021 10% · 2022 56% · 2023 12% · 2024 37% · 2025 15%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 5 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.
Board chair
Elizabeth Watkins
Chairperson
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 5 funders, grant income rose $10k → $100k.
4 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% 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 HOUSTON’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
COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF HOUSTON leans on a few funders — its largest provides 35% of grant income and the top three 76%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
59% 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 COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF HOUSTON.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 50% · 2020 100% · 2021 77% · 2022 50% · 2023 56% — 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
40% of COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF HOUSTON'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
85% of COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF HOUSTON's grant income comes from Texas funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $45k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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.
Organizations like COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF HOUSTON
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 Texas
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
64% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF HOUSTON: 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 HOUSTON?
- COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF HOUSTON (Texas) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $954,466 to it, the largest being Houston Arts Alliance ($329,441). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF HOUSTON have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $954,466 in grants to COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF HOUSTON, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF HOUSTON?
- Houston Arts Alliance is the largest funder on record, with $329,441 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like COMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER OF HOUSTON find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Texas. 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 Houston →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), and the filings of 12 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