Georgia · Nonprofit
Sowega Rising
Sowega Rising (Georgia) receives grants from 27 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,610,347 to it, the largest being WINDWARD FUND ($525,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.2M
- Funders on record
- 27
- Grants received
- $2.6M
- Net assets
- $861k
What Sowega Rising does
Mission
We mobilize people and resources to improve the well-being quality of life and political power of marginalized Southwest Georgians.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Civic Engagement
$583,024 spentof which $583,024 as grants63% of program spendingRural Health Initiative
$100,000 spentof which $100,000 as grants11% of program spendingClimate Utilities and Environmental Initiatives
$247,500 spentof which $247,500 as grants27% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $930,524.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2021 to 2022, from $272k to $665k (+144%).
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.
25% of Sowega Rising’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (61% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 5 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
Sherrell Byrd
Executive Director
Board chair
Michael Harper
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 14 funders, grant income rose $12k → $727k.
6 of 27 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 49% 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 Sowega Rising’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
Sowega Rising has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
78% 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 Sowega Rising.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 76% · 2021 54% · 2022 30% · 2023 28% — 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
50% of Sowega Rising's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 41% 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
Sowega Rising draws 87% of its grant income from funders outside Georgia, across 9 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.3M 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.
Against its field
Sowega Rising has grown faster than three-quarters of the 4,203 community improvement nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,203 community improvement nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like Sowega Rising
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 Georgia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
83% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
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 Sowega Rising: 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 Sowega Rising?
- Sowega Rising (Georgia) receives grants from 27 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,610,347 to it, the largest being WINDWARD FUND ($525,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Sowega Rising have?
- IRS filings report 27 organizations giving $2,610,347 in grants to Sowega Rising, 11 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Sowega Rising?
- WINDWARD FUND is the largest funder on record, with $525,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Sowega Rising find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Georgia. 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 Sowega Rising →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 27 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