Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
KANKOURAN WEST AFRICAN DANCE COMPANY
KANKOURAN WEST AFRICAN DANCE COMPANY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,927,985 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($1,700,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $602k
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $1.9M
- Net assets
- $1.4M
What Kankouran West African Dance Company does
Mission
To preserve and promote the performing arts of traditional West Africa by providing quality entertainment and educational programs to local and national audiences in an effort to facilitate cross-cultural enrichment and develop audience appreciation for the rich artistry of African dance.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
This year, KanKouran Dance Company demonstrated strong artistic and community impact through 263 company rehearsals and 312 dance and drum classes serving adults and children. We delivered 118 performances and residency sessions across 67 Washington, DC public, private, and charter schools, and presented 78 staged performances at public, private, government, and corporate venues. In addition, we successfully hosted our 41st and 42nd Annual Dance Conferences, engaging 4,816 and 4,950 participants respectively, further expanding access to African-centered arts and cultural education.
$626,854 spentof which $461,644 as grants$139,930 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $626,854.
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 $244k to $1.1M (+336%).
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 78% · 2022 72% · 2023 90% · 2024 9% · 2025 27%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
77% of KANKOURAN WEST AFRICAN DANCE COMPANY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $10k → $875k.
2 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 1% 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 KANKOURAN WEST AFRICAN DANCE COMPANY’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
KANKOURAN WEST AFRICAN DANCE COMPANY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 88% of grant income and the top three 98%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2019 67% · 2020 62% · 2021 100% · 2022 91% · 2023 97% — 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.
Where its funders are
KANKOURAN WEST AFRICAN DANCE COMPANY draws 90% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 3 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $25k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
KANKOURAN WEST AFRICAN DANCE COMPANY holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Government funding KANKOURAN WEST AFRICAN DANCE COMPANY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $65k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$65k
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 KANKOURAN WEST AFRICAN DANCE COMPANY
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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% 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 KANKOURAN WEST AFRICAN DANCE COMPANY: 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 KANKOURAN WEST AFRICAN DANCE COMPANY?
- KANKOURAN WEST AFRICAN DANCE COMPANY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,927,985 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($1,700,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does KANKOURAN WEST AFRICAN DANCE COMPANY have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $1,927,985 in grants to KANKOURAN WEST AFRICAN DANCE COMPANY, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of KANKOURAN WEST AFRICAN DANCE COMPANY?
- THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,700,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like KANKOURAN WEST AFRICAN DANCE COMPANY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 Kankouran West African Dance Company →
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 6 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