North Carolina · Nonprofit
POTIONS & PIXELS NONPROFIT
POTIONS & PIXELS NONPROFIT (North Carolina) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $192,944 to it, the largest being FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS ($104,944). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $84k
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $193k
- Net assets
- $27k
What Potions & Pixels Nonprofit does
Mission
POTIONS & PIXELS is a nonprofit organization that creates and utilizes games art and technology for community impact.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
ArtCade - ArtCade is a multidisciplinary public arcade experience that sits at the intersection of skilled trades art and technology. In 2023 POTIONS & PIXELS completed and formally released ArtCade a custom-built eight-unit arcade designed to showcase games as an art form and introduce the public to innovative indie games in an approachable non-commercial setting. Each ArtCade machine is a one-of-a-kind hand-built cabinet featuring hand-painted artwork by eight local Charlotte artists curated indie games from developers around the world and a custom-designed software launcher developed by POTIONS & PIXELS. The launcher allows players to seamlessly explore and play approximately 80 indie games that have not previously been featured in arcade environments and includes built-in contributor recognition and usage analytics. Each machine includes three integrated displays gameplay marquee and controls reference custom RGB controls and enhanced audio systems to support public exhibition. In 2023 ArtCade transitioned from development to public deployment enabling community members to engage directly with curated interactive digital art experiences. ArtCade was supported in part by Lowes…
$68,069 spent32% of program spendingGame App & Art Development - Through its Game App & Art Development program POTIONS & PIXELS designs and produces original interactive experiences that explore games as cultural educational and artistic tools. In 2023 the organization actively developed launched and publicly engaged audiences through multiple original projects. Key projects included Our Stories CLT an augmented reality mobile game that invites participants to explore Charlottes historic Elmwood and Pinewood Cemeteries as historical detectives uncovering overlooked local narratives. In 2023 POTIONS & PIXELS completed development launched the app and facilitated public engagement. The project was created in partnership with Gkotta the City of Charlotte Knight Foundation Google Fiber and local youth from Charlottes West End and North End who participated in AR design game development and historical research. Additional projects included Defenders of the QC a large-scale facilitated educational game developed for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Department to teach conflict resolution skills to middle and high school students and CONNECTED a gamified public mural experience created in partnership with…
$94,992 spent$164,875 earned by the program45% of program spendingCommunity Engagement & Game Library - POTIONS & PIXELS operates an ongoing Community Engagement & Game Library program focused on creating inclusive welcoming spaces for social play learning and creative connection through games. In 2023 the organization hosted frequent public and partner-based game events across Charlotte. These events provided free or low-cost access to a curated public game library and emphasized social connection accessibility and intergenerational participation. Programs were hosted at locations including Camp North End the Charlotte Urban Design Center public libraries and partner community organizations. Through consistent facilitation and community-centered design the program supported social engagement creative exploration and relationship-building among participants from a wide range of backgrounds.
$46,664 spent$39,131 earned by the program22% of program spendingOther program services
$3,337 spent$1,600 earned by the program2% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $213,062.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2022, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2022, 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 2024 to 2025, from $76k to $29k (−62%).
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: 2022 0% · 2023 0% · 2024 36%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
74% of POTIONS & PIXELS NONPROFIT’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (75% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 4 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
Michael Zytkow
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2022 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $9k → $23k.
2 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 54% 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 POTIONS & PIXELS NONPROFIT’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 3 of 4 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
POTIONS & PIXELS NONPROFIT leans on a few funders — its largest provides 54% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
97% 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 POTIONS & PIXELS NONPROFIT.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2022 100% · 2023 78% — 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
54% of POTIONS & PIXELS NONPROFIT's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $88k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from North Carolina funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $105k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
POTIONS & PIXELS NONPROFIT's revenue fell 65% between 2022 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,074 employment nonprofits under $100k, FY2025
Organizations like POTIONS & PIXELS NONPROFIT
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 North Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
100%
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 POTIONS & PIXELS NONPROFIT: 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 POTIONS & PIXELS NONPROFIT?
- POTIONS & PIXELS NONPROFIT (North Carolina) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $192,944 to it, the largest being FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS ($104,944). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does POTIONS & PIXELS NONPROFIT have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $192,944 in grants to POTIONS & PIXELS NONPROFIT, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of POTIONS & PIXELS NONPROFIT?
- FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS is the largest funder on record, with $104,944 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like POTIONS & PIXELS NONPROFIT find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. 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 Potions & Pixels Nonprofit →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2022–2025), and the filings of 4 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