Rhode Island · Nonprofit
SWEET BLACKBERRY FOUNDATION
SWEET BLACKBERRY FOUNDATION (Rhode Island) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $427 to it, the largest being AMAZONSMILE FOUNDATION ($427). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $26k
- Funders on record
- 1
- Grants received
- $427
- Net assets
- $20k
What Sweet Blackberry Foundation does
Mission
The mission at sweet blackberry is to bring little known stories of african american achievement to children everywhere.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
Working as a group, students will have the opportunity to work hands-on in creating a sweet blackberry film. By following the sweet blackberry model, mentors will guide the students through the process of writing, art directing, illustrating, animating, and creating a marketing strategy for the film they create.students in this program will also have the opportunity to become published authors and create fun and engaging historical books about african american history for younger children. Students will research historical figures, go through the pre-writing, writing, proofreading and editing process of writing a story, create illustrations, and finally see their finished product in a paperback format. After the books are published, students will have the opportunity to read their stories to the younger children in an end of program celebration.
$4,798 spent88% of program spendingSchool visits - karyn parsons, sweet blackberry founder and president, well known for her role of as hilary banks on the long-running television show, "the fresh prince of bel air" will come to your school to share triumphant stories of individuals surmounting the odds and making invaluable contributions to our society.these american stories are inspirational and empowering, but rarely taught in our schools due to a lack of time and resources. Sweet blackberry's stories illustrate for our children the concept that tremendous obstacles are actually opportunities for greatness! Children of all races and ethnicities feel a sense of shared history when they learn about the real people whose lives and work impact their everyday lives.school visits are tailored to each audience. Themes addressed include surmounting the odds, african american history, inventors and their inventions, as well as story-telling, creative writing, and film making. School visits include: dvd viewing, interactive discussion and q&a session with karyn parsons, hands on project, and the teacher's guide.
$0 spent0% of program spendingAnimated shorts - create triumphant stories of individuals surmounting the odds and making invaluable contributions to our society.
$653 spent12% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $5,451.
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 2017 to 2018, from $119k to $25k (−79%).
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.
18% of SWEET BLACKBERRY FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (78% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
Leadership and staff
Chief executive
Karyn Parsons
President & CEO
Board chair
Stephanie Tavares-Rance
Board chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $114 → $89.
1 of 1 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 100% 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 SWEET BLACKBERRY FOUNDATION’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.
Where its funders are
100% of SWEET BLACKBERRY FOUNDATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Too little is directly attributable to place on a map.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $427 arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
SWEET BLACKBERRY FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 14,550 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 14,550 arts & culture nonprofits under $100k, FY2024
Organizations like SWEET BLACKBERRY FOUNDATION
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 Rhode Island
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
100%
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 SWEET BLACKBERRY FOUNDATION: 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 SWEET BLACKBERRY FOUNDATION?
- SWEET BLACKBERRY FOUNDATION (Rhode Island) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $427 to it, the largest being AMAZONSMILE FOUNDATION ($427). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SWEET BLACKBERRY FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 1 organization giving $427 in grants to SWEET BLACKBERRY FOUNDATION, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SWEET BLACKBERRY FOUNDATION?
- AMAZONSMILE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $427 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SWEET BLACKBERRY FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Rhode Island. 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 Sweet Blackberry →
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 1 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