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Kentucky · Nonprofit

I WAS HERE INC

I WAS HERE INC (Kentucky) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $89,551 to it, the largest being THE GREATER CLARK FOUNDATION INC ($25,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$262k
Funders on record
8
Grants received
$90k
Net assets
$290k
2/8 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 30%
01What it does

What I Was Here Inc does

Mission

I Was Here creates a transformational force in public spaces bringing the voice of community into public space. The Mission of I Was Here is manifold. We enhance our community's cultural landscape through collaboration with artists, civic organizations, and community stakeholders to create transformative installations and exhibitions that reflect the unique character and spirit of Lexington.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. The I Was Here Project produces large-scale public art installations called Ancestor Spirit Portraits, designed to acknowledge the unrecognized Nation Builders whose labor helped build the United States. These installations transform public spaces into sites of historical reflection and civic dialogue. The program activates civic environments including museums, downtown districts, universities, and cultural institutions through large-scale printed installations, projection mapping, and immersive technology. Installations have appeared in locations such as Lexington, Kentucky; Washington, D.C.; New York City; and Broward County, Florida. Notable installations include a large-scale digital projection at One World Trade Center, presented with NYCxDesign and MadLabs Studios, where the portraits rose over 200 feet on the building facade overlooking Lower Manhattan. The program has created a growing network of installation sites and public spaces dedicated to acknowledging the contributions of Nation Builders. The installations restore visibility to historically overlooked contributors to American history while activating public dialogue about ancestry, identity, and civic belonging. I…

    $118,433 spent$252,987 earned by the program
    100% of program spending
  2. Other program services, not described on the e-filed return.

    $0 spent
    0% of program spending

The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $118,433.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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.

100 = 20202020 Revenue 100 ($85k) Expenses 100 ($60k) Net assets 100 ($76k)2021 Revenue 165 ($140k) Expenses 152 ($92k) Net assets 164 ($125k)2022 Revenue 185 ($157k) Expenses 196 ($119k) Net assets 214 ($163k)2023 Revenue 146 ($123k) Expenses 156 ($94k) Net assets 253 ($192k)2024 Revenue 189 ($160k) Expenses 228 ($138k) Net assets 251 ($191k)2025 Revenue 309 ($262k) Expenses 270 ($163k) Net assets 381 ($290k)
202020212022202320242025
Revenue (309)Expenses (270)Net assets (381)Peer revenue range

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 $191k to $291k (+53%).

$76k
$125k
$166k
$192k
$191k
$291k
202020212022202320242025
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2025 35%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

97% of I WAS HERE INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (64% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 19,547 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 6 reported years ran a deficit.

$24k
’20
$49k
’21
$38k
’22
$29k
’23
$23k
’24
$99k
’25
21
months of
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

Johnny Martinez

Board Chair

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $25k → $28k.

3 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 24% 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 I WAS HERE INC’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

I WAS HERE INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 28% of grant income and the top three 69%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

46% 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 I WAS HERE INC.

28%
largest funder
69%
top three
~5
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 89% · 2022 99% · 2023 61% — 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

25% of I WAS HERE INC's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 25% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y

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

75% of I WAS HERE INC's grant income comes from Kentucky funders.

KY
NC

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’20
’21
’22
’23
Kentucky out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $21k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

I WAS HERE INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.

Operating margin38% · top quartile
Months of reserve21.4mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)25% · top quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025

Organizations like I WAS HERE 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 Kentucky

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

73% of spending goes to programs.

Program 73%Management 27%Fundraising 0%

Governance

10
board members
100%
independent
–Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

99%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

KY

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for I WAS HERE 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 I WAS HERE INC?
I WAS HERE INC (Kentucky) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $89,551 to it, the largest being THE GREATER CLARK FOUNDATION INC ($25,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does I WAS HERE INC have?
IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $89,551 in grants to I WAS HERE INC, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of I WAS HERE INC?
THE GREATER CLARK FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $25,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like I WAS HERE INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Kentucky. 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 I Was Here →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 8 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