Arkansas · Nonprofit
SONNY BOY BLUES SOCIETY INC
SONNY BOY BLUES SOCIETY INC (Arkansas) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $460,350 to it, the largest being Walton Family Foundation Inc ($417,923). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.1M
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $460k
- Net assets
- $110k
What Sonny Boy Blues Society Inc does
Mission
To promote the memory, spirit, and music of sonny boy williamson and other blues artists by fostering an appreciation of blues music, knowledge of the blues history, and promoting meetings, lectures, concerts and musical productions.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Planning for and presenting the annual king biscuit blues festival in downtown helena, ar, providing three days of impressive blues artists performing their music. The festival is the main event the second weekend of october, but other events take place simultaneiously all over helena including tour da delta bicycle race and a 5k run.
$1,242,101 spent$173,482 earned by the program98% of program spendingParticipated with the arkansas arts council to promote education about blues music, blues artists, and blues history in the delta. This was continued in 2024 with again taking great care to protect against covid19 spreading to participants.
$18,847 spent1% of program spendingThe delta roots music festival is normally a 1-day music festival featuring various genres of music that were born in the delta region. In 2024 this festival was not presented. The festival seeks to allow participants to experience the sounds and tastes of the arkansas delta, including all types of blues music. In addition to a music lineup, the festival also featured arts & crafts booths, food vendors, bike ride, childrens area, and harmonica workshop. Festival admission was $25 per person, children 12 and under were free admission.
$340 spent$50 earned by the program0% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,261,288.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $986k to $606k (−38%).
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: 2019 4% · 2020 11% · 2021 62% · 2022 19% · 2023 11% · 2024 13%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 6 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
Munny Jordan
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $20k → $3k.
From the IRS filings of SONNY BOY BLUES SOCIETY 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
SONNY BOY BLUES SOCIETY INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 91% of grant income and the top three 99%; 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 100% · 2020 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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
91% of SONNY BOY BLUES SOCIETY INC's grant income comes from Arkansas funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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.
Government funding SONNY BOY BLUES SOCIETY INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $281k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$281k
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 SONNY BOY BLUES SOCIETY 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 Arkansas
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
96% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
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 SONNY BOY BLUES SOCIETY 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 SONNY BOY BLUES SOCIETY INC?
- SONNY BOY BLUES SOCIETY INC (Arkansas) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $460,350 to it, the largest being Walton Family Foundation Inc ($417,923). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SONNY BOY BLUES SOCIETY INC have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $460,350 in grants to SONNY BOY BLUES SOCIETY INC, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SONNY BOY BLUES SOCIETY INC?
- Walton Family Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $417,923 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SONNY BOY BLUES SOCIETY INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Arkansas. 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 Sonny Boy Blues Society →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2019–2024), and the filings of 5 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