Massachusetts · Nonprofit
SILK ROAD PROJECT INC
SILK ROAD PROJECT INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 51 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,936,221 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($3,000,000). 35 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.8M
- Funders on record
- 51
- Grants received
- $11M
- Net assets
- $2.8M
What Silk Road Project Inc does
Mission
Silkroad creates music that engages difference, sparking radical cultural collaboration and passion-driven learning for a more hopeful and inclusive world.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
American railroad - silkroad's key program, the silkroad ensemble, resumed the american railroad project for its second year, illuminating the impact the african american, chinese, indigenous, irish, and other immigrant communities had on the creation of the u.s. Transcontinental railroad and connecting railways in north america. This project amplified untold stories to paint a richer, more accurate picture of the origins of the american empire and the formation of our multifaceted american identities. This year's iteration included commissions of new music, a 10-city tour for performances, development of educational curriculum, community engagement, and more.
$1,254,272 spent$761,100 earned by the program45% of program spendingGlobal musician workshop - silkroad's flagship education program, global musician workshop (gmw), is an annual immersive training program, uniting musicians from across the globe to explore diverse musical traditions and innovative collaborations. Participants took part in workshops and performed in bands led by silkroad artists and special guests in a dynamic environment that celebrated creativity and cultural exchange. Gmw 2024 was held in boston, ma from august 3-11, 2024, and hangzhou, china from august 25-31, 2024.
$344,582 spent$92,691 earned by the program12% of program spendingUplifted voices - silkroad's key program, the silkroad ensemble, brought together a stellar lineup of performer-composers for the uplifted voices project, which included a series of musical compositions, often inspired by each artist's homeland, ancestors, community, and family, representing previously under-recognized voices from around the world, offering a fresh perspective on the history and migration of music. The project showcased a synthesis of global musical traditions and contemporary innovation, with each artist contributing their unique voice to craft a shared musical experience. The project included a seven-city tour with performances, commissions of new music, community engagement, and more.
$295,920 spent$160,175 earned by the program11% of program spendingOther programs that include: general, artistic leadership, marketing and public relations, strategic planning, one-time performance engagements, sanctuary program, percussion all-stars program, silkroad connect program, university residencies, community partnerships.
$897,623 spent$102,000 earned by the program32% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,792,397.
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 2020 to 2021, from $1.3M to $4.5M (+253%).
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 1% · 2018 1% · 2019 2% · 2020 10% · 2021 5% · 2022 19% · 2023 6% · 2024 3% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
76% of SILK ROAD PROJECT INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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.
Chief executive
Ben Hartley
Chief executive officer, president
Board chair
Boris Dolgonos
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 22 funders, grant income rose $331k → $2.1M.
11 of 51 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 21% 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 SILK ROAD PROJECT INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 51 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
SILK ROAD PROJECT INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 27% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 50% · 2018 33% · 2019 54% · 2020 44% · 2021 40% · 2022 35% · 2023 42% — 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
38% of SILK ROAD PROJECT INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% 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
SILK ROAD PROJECT INC draws 78% of its grant income from funders outside Massachusetts, across 11 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
SILK ROAD PROJECT INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding SILK ROAD PROJECT INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $513k on record — $325k federal, $188k state.
- National Endowment for the Arts$325k
- (PP) STATE AID/POL SUB$183k
- (HH) CONSULTANT SVCS (TO DEPTS)$6k
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 SILK ROAD PROJECT 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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
75% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
36%
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 SILK ROAD PROJECT 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.
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 SILK ROAD PROJECT INC?
- SILK ROAD PROJECT INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 51 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,936,221 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($3,000,000). 35 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SILK ROAD PROJECT INC have?
- IRS filings report 51 organizations giving $10,936,221 in grants to SILK ROAD PROJECT INC, 35 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SILK ROAD PROJECT INC?
- THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $3,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SILK ROAD PROJECT INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 Silk Road Project →
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 51 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