Skip to content

New York · Nonprofit

ROMARE BEARDEN FOUNDATION INC

ROMARE BEARDEN FOUNDATION INC (New York) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $889,566 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($750,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$318k
Funders on record
7
Grants received
$890k
Net assets
$2.3M
4/7 repeat fundersgrants exceed reported revenue in one year
01What it does

What Romare Bearden Foundation Inc does

Mission

To perpetuate romare bearden's artistic and intellectual legacies, and to promote public awareness and appreciation of the arts.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Catalogue raisonne project- phase four continued the process of identifying and researching works, and gaining new photography of art from private collections in detroit, california, savannah, ga, and a large one of over 200 drawings in nyc; we assisted in reviewing and verifying materials from the foundation files in preparation for the first launch of the catalogue raisonne (2025) with the online digital catalogue project partner- wildenstein plattner institute (wpi).

    $142,975 spent$155,175 earned by the program
    50% of program spending
  2. The foundation developed and presented several programs as part of our the"cinque artist program" talk series that provides a platform for mid- career artists. Speakers are paid an honorarium. Artists included philip smallwood (april 23, 2024); hank willis thomas (november 15, 2024); kahlil irving (october 16, 2024); and nancy grossman (october 17, 2024)

    $8,550 spent
    3% of program spending
  3. Foundation traveling exhibition showed at two venues- clay art center, charleston, wv (nov. 2023 - feb 2024); the foundation also lent works for a small exhibition at the paramount center for the arts in in st. Cloud, mn. (june 24 -july 29, 2024); the co-directors both travelled to give gallery talks in support of the traveling show at the clay art center, charleston, wv (february 1-3, 2024)

  4. Support to scholars to encourage new exhibitions and publications on the artist; managed research and image requests; support to new documentary film on bearden. Foundation representation at several conferences and initiative meetings, including the harlem semester initiative at barnard college- (ongoing spring 2024) and harlem cultural collaboration (ongoing); artist endowed foundation annual forum (oct 2024); support to a consortium of artist endowed foundation pilot program for interns and fellows in the arts. The foundation board and staff hosted a spring salon in washington, dc included a talk by scholar leslie king hammond, and art auction with n'namdi gallery (june 8, 2024); attended conference black portraiture (venice april 20-21, 2024); represented at group by unit gallery in venice, italy (april 2024); the foundation staff and board members participated in the launch of a new documentary on bearden, at miami art basel (dec 1-4, 2024). This included a small exhibition of collage, and a panel discussion with the filmmaker, deborah riley draper, and artist tschabalala self.

    $134,098 spent
    47% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $285,623.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($433k) Expenses 100 ($213k) Net assets 100 ($2.2M)2018 Revenue 24 ($104k) Expenses 92 ($196k) Net assets 96 ($2.1M)2019 Revenue 27 ($119k) Expenses 85 ($181k) Net assets 93 ($2.1M)2020 Revenue 26 ($114k) Expenses 87 ($185k) Net assets 89 ($2.0M)2021 Revenue 56 ($241k) Expenses 122 ($260k) Net assets 116 ($2.6M)2022 Revenue 114 ($493k) Expenses 133 ($283k) Net assets 118 ($2.6M)2023 Revenue 140 ($604k) Expenses 264 ($563k) Net assets 114 ($2.6M)2024 Revenue 73 ($318k) Expenses 199 ($424k) Net assets 102 ($2.3M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (73)Expenses (199)Net assets (102)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 2020 to 2021, from $2.0M to $2.7M (+30%).

$2.3M
$2.2M
$2.2M
$2.0M
$2.7M
$2.7M
$2.7M
$2.4M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

80% of ROMARE BEARDEN FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (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. 5 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$219k
’17
−$92k
’18
−$62k
’19
−$71k
’20
−$19k
’21
$210k
’22
$41k
’23
−$106k
’24
11
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

Tallal I Elboushi

Chairman

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed11119910101413
Joined·+2+0+1+3+1+5+0
No longer listed·2212111
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 3 funders, grant income rose $10k → $14k.

3 of 7 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 10% 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 ROMARE BEARDEN FOUNDATION 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

ROMARE BEARDEN FOUNDATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 84% of grant income and the top three 96%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

84%
largest funder
96%
top three
~1
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 94% · 2022 100% · 2023 71% — 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

93% of ROMARE BEARDEN FOUNDATION INC's grant income comes from New York funders.

NY
MA
CA
MD

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

’20
’21
’22
’23
New York out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $87k 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

ROMARE BEARDEN FOUNDATION INC is better cushioned than half of the 17,936 arts & culture nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−33% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve11.0mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)−4% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 17,936 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024

Organizations like ROMARE BEARDEN FOUNDATION 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 New York

Nationally

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

67% of spending goes to programs.

Program 67%Management 17%Fundraising 15%

Governance

14
board members
64%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention–Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

49%

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

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

NY

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ROMARE BEARDEN FOUNDATION 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 ROMARE BEARDEN FOUNDATION INC?
ROMARE BEARDEN FOUNDATION INC (New York) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $889,566 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($750,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does ROMARE BEARDEN FOUNDATION INC have?
IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $889,566 in grants to ROMARE BEARDEN FOUNDATION INC, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of ROMARE BEARDEN FOUNDATION INC?
THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $750,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like ROMARE BEARDEN FOUNDATION INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 Romare Bearden →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 7 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