Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
STEPAFRIKA USA INC
STEPAFRIKA USA INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 32 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,071,732 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($2,000,000). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.8M
- Funders on record
- 32
- Grants received
- $4.1M
- Net assets
- $4.5M
What Stepafrika USA Inc does
Mission
To promote and preserve the tradition of stepping and it's connections to art forms around the world.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Performances and art education activities: step afrikas performances are ideal for theatres, outdoor festivals, concert halls, university and hotel facilities, community and recreation centers and schools. The load-in is small and the production can be quickly adapted to practically any performance venue.
$2,214,634 spent$1,353,482 earned by the program91% of program spendingStepping into schools arts education activities: step afrika is a model in the use of stepping as an educational tool and has been dedicated to youth and family audiences since its inception. Our youth programming has been developed through training and close consultation with the prestigious john f. Kennedy center for the performing arts education department. Step afrika has been a kennedy center artist-in-residence since 1998.
$129,343 spent5% of program spendingOther program
$90,673 spent4% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,434,650.
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 $3.7M to $5.2M (+40%).
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 15% · 2018 26% · 2019 30% · 2020 37% · 2021 56% · 2022 33% · 2023 37% · 2024 6% · 2025 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
62% of STEPAFRIKA USA INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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.
Board chair
Brandon Todd
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $118k → $1.6M.
8 of 32 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 19% 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 STEPAFRIKA USA INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 32 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
STEPAFRIKA USA INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 49% of grant income and the top three 64%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
31% 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 STEPAFRIKA USA INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 72% · 2018 43% · 2019 55% · 2020 23% · 2021 24% · 2022 42% · 2023 90% — growing more concentrated.
“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
36% of STEPAFRIKA USA INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 66% 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
STEPAFRIKA USA INC draws 83% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 11 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $786k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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
STEPAFRIKA USA INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding STEPAFRIKA USA INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $740k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$410k
- Department of State$316k
- Department of Agriculture$14k
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 STEPAFRIKA USA 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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
68% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
82%
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 STEPAFRIKA USA 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 STEPAFRIKA USA INC?
- STEPAFRIKA USA INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 32 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,071,732 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($2,000,000). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does STEPAFRIKA USA INC have?
- IRS filings report 32 organizations giving $4,071,732 in grants to STEPAFRIKA USA INC, 21 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of STEPAFRIKA USA INC?
- THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like STEPAFRIKA USA INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 Stepafrika USA →
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 32 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing