Virginia · Nonprofit
THE AAKOMA PROJECT INC
THE AAKOMA PROJECT INC (Virginia) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,635,831 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($4,750,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 90% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $161k
- Funders on record
- 14
- Grants received
- $5.6M
- Net assets
- $468k
What The Aakoma Project Inc does
Mission
The aakoma project works to build the consciousness of intersectional youth and young adults of color and their caregivers on the recognition and importance of mental health, empower youth and their families to seek help and manage mental health, and influence systems and services to receive and address the needs of youth and young adults of color and their families.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Aakoma connects spans a variety of media channels to effectively reach three key audiences: youth, caregivers, and professionals in the field of mental health. Aakoma utilizes social media platforms to engage directly with diverse young people, providing them with valuable information and language around mental health. Broadcast and print media are used to communicate with caregivers and community members involved in supporting youth mental health. Additionally, aakoma shares research and data with academic and clinical stakeholders to promote dialogue and collaboration.
$213,404 spent$14,850 earned by the program47% of program spendingEmpowering people with accessible tools for ongoing mental health management including engaging 13 youth from three countries to join team aakoma (our youth leadership and advisory board) receiving training, leadership and engagement opportunities who also stood tall and initiated mental health conversations with family and friends. Notably 100% of our aakoma project free therapy network providers are people of color and/or people with expertise in providing culturally responsive care. Aakoma has coordinated hundreds of hours of free mental healthcare (via our national provider network referral service) to youth and young adults of color ages 12-30 reaching people of color in almost half 50 states and u.s. Territories. Our work also reaches individuals on a personal level via our activities like teaching virtual mindfulness meditation for young people of color, connecting students with mentors from our network, and providing leadership opportunities, internships, and jobs.
$59,026 spent13% of program spendingChanging systems to promote youth wellbeing and provide better care: aakoma leads in the production of rigorous, culturally-relevant science at the intersection of traditional clinical research and community engaged research. We work to ensure that researchers, research institutions, and associations recognize and prioritize data and studies that focus on the needs of the widest range of youth and young adults possible.
$122,594 spent27% of program spendingYouth of color are in critical need of improved mental health; however, research about youth of color is mainly absent. In 2024, the aakoma project initiated 2 major reports on youth of color mental health; a research study on overall mental health and implementation of a youth led program begun in 2023 that continued into 2024 and focused on a youth led mental health campaign
$59,026 spent13% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $454,050.
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 $792k to $2.8M (+257%).
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: 2021 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
77% of THE AAKOMA PROJECT INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 6 funders, grant income fell $551k → $114k.
9 of 14 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 90% 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 THE AAKOMA PROJECT 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
THE AAKOMA PROJECT INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 84% of grant income and the top three 96%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
99% 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 THE AAKOMA PROJECT INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 91% · 2021 57% · 2022 68% · 2023 44% — 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
25% of THE AAKOMA PROJECT INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 57% 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
90% of THE AAKOMA PROJECT INC'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. Of the $564k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Virginia, across 4 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.1M 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
THE AAKOMA PROJECT INC's revenue fell 86% between 2020 and 2024.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 22,812 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like THE AAKOMA 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 Virginia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
39% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
24%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 19 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE AAKOMA 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 THE AAKOMA PROJECT INC?
- THE AAKOMA PROJECT INC (Virginia) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,635,831 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($4,750,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 90% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE AAKOMA PROJECT INC have?
- IRS filings report 14 organizations giving $5,635,831 in grants to THE AAKOMA PROJECT INC, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE AAKOMA PROJECT INC?
- NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $4,750,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE AAKOMA PROJECT INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. 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 Aakoma Project →
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 14 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