Louisiana · Nonprofit
SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (Louisiana) receives grants from 24 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,793,264 to it, the largest being THE KRESGE FOUNDATION ($2,005,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.8M
- Funders on record
- 24
- Grants received
- $6.8M
- Net assets
- $2.6M
What Sankofa Community Development Corporation does
Mission
At Sankofa Community Development Corporation, we believe health to be the cornerstone of a thriving community with safety, stability and overall viability. We are committed to sustainable, health-centered development to revitalize the Lower Ninth Ward area through the lens of environmental justice. Our community and economic development programs address those systemic problems that cause social and health disparities by building infrastructure that works with nature (rather than against it). We are creating simple solutions to real-world problems by building infrastructure to support a resilient community in the Lower Ninth Ward and a local environment that promotes positive health outcomes and builds healthier communities for generations to come.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The Wetland Park & Nature Trail, is a cornerstone project within Sankofa CDC's ecosystem and resilience initiative that supports economic development in the Lower 9th Ward through the transformation of over 40 acres of blighted space into vibrant green infrastructure and restored ecological areas. Restoration activities that have occurred at the Wetland Park include the construction of bioretention ponds, extensive planting of native trees and plants, and installation of a permeable walking path. Sankofa CDC collaborates with K-8 schools to co-facilitate STEM education workshops at the Wetland Park that teach students the importance of wetlands habitat restoration and ignite their learning. The USDA People's garden at St Claude Ct and the pollinator garden on Tennessee St include Louisiana native plants to provide resources essential to climate resilience and the support of healthy ecosystems.
$352,256 spent48% of program spendingThe Fresh Start Market is a cornerstone project on St Claude Avenue within Sankofa CDC's commercial corridor revitalization initiative. The Fresh Start Market provides consistent access to locally sourced fresh produce and a teaching kitchen to help ensure all families have access to nutrient-rich food in a community facing significant food insecurity. The teaching kitchen is co-led by the Xavier University Health & Wellness Center and offers healthy cooking and nutrition education classes. The Fresh Start Market program also raises awareness of food system deficits and opportunities to advocate for effective policy and programs. Stakeholders will have the resources they need to shape public policy to improve equity, opportunity, and collaboration in our local food system by working with community partners, stakeholders and residents to increase food access and nutrition security.
$177,777 spent24% of program spendingThe Lower Ninth Ward Mainstreet Program aims to revitalize St. Claude Avenue into a vibrant commercial corridor by attracting economic development, promoting cultural richness, and uplifting future generations through sustainable investments, education, and equitable systems. The program will support the revitalization of the St Claude Ave corridor to foster opportunities for innovation, the development of a healthy and sustainable circular economy, and design elements that reflect the beauty and culture of the Lower Ninth Ward area. The program goals are to: 1) facilitate economic growth of the St. Claude Avenue corridor; 2) improve public perception of the St. Claude Ave corridor through projects and programs designed to elevate the built environment; 3) support community engagement, leadership, and thought partnership on Lower Ninth Ward Main Street priorities by working with community stakeholders to advocate for resources that support economic investment on St. Claude Ave corridor; and 4) utilize diverse marketing and outreach approaches to communicate L9W Main Street programs and priorities.
$207,754 spent28% of program spendingSankofa CDC's edible educational garden grows edible food with healthy eating programs.The garden grows foods representing local indigenous culture, work with community gardeners to offer growing spaces, and grow starter plants from seeds for planting. The edible educational garden is a continuation of Sankofa CDC's efforts to support healthy ecosystems as we offer progressive approaches to revitalize our community in a sustainable way. The garden programming includes family-centered community programming, bi-annual seed planting workshops, and giveaways of starter plants for community members to plant in the garden or their home backyard gardens.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $737,787.
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 $1.8M to $2.9M (+58%).
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: 2017 69% · 2018 3% · 2019 5% · 2020 23% · 2021 0% · 2022 26% · 2023 0% · 2024 48%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
97% of SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 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
Rashida Ferdinand
CEO
Board chair
Terrance Taylor
Chairperson
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 12 funders, grant income rose $354k → $2.1M.
2 of 24 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 6% 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 SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 23 of 24 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
SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 30% 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
44% 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 SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 72% · 2018 63% · 2019 38% · 2020 37% · 2021 59% · 2022 58% · 2023 57% — 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
29% of SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 46% 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
SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION draws 96% of its grant income from funders outside Louisiana, across 11 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $412k 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
SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION has grown faster than three-quarters of the 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.4M on record.
- Department of Housing and Urban Development$2.0M
- Department of Agriculture$224k
- Delta Regional Authority$150k
- Environmental Protection Agency$30k
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 SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
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 Louisiana
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
44% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
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 SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: 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 SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION?
- SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (Louisiana) receives grants from 24 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,793,264 to it, the largest being THE KRESGE FOUNDATION ($2,005,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION have?
- IRS filings report 24 organizations giving $6,793,264 in grants to SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, 11 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION?
- THE KRESGE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,005,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SANKOFA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Louisiana. 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 Sankofa Community Development →
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 24 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