Akron Soul Train
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
Points to look into
- Only 43% of its spending went to programs.
- Raising each dollar of donations cost 55 cents.
These come from the organization's own tax return. There may be a good explanation; ask the charity.
What it says it does
AKRON SOUL TRAIN (AST) IS A MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESIDENCY PROGRAM THAT PROVIDES 12-15 ARTISTS EACH YEAR WITH PAID RESIDENCIES. OUR MISSION IS TO OFFER OHIO-BASED VISUAL, PERFORMING, AND LITERARY ARTISTS THE SPACE, TIME, AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES THEY NEED TO CREATE AND PRESENT NEW WORK TO THE PUBLIC. ALONG WITH FOSTERING CREATIVE EXPLORATION, ARTISTS ARE TASKED WITH DESIGNING A PUBLIC PROGRAM THAT ENGAGES THE GREATER AKRON COMMUNITY. THESE PROGRAMS, WHICH RELATE DIRECTLY TO THE ARTIST'S RESIDENCY WORK, MAY TAKE THE FORM OF PERFORMANCES, PANEL DISCUSSIONS, ARTIST TALKS, DEMONSTRATIONS, OR HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS. AST COLLABORATES CLOSELY WITH EACH RESIDENT TO HELP FULLY DEVELOP THEIR COMMUNITY EVENT AND TO IDENTIFY POTENTIAL AKRON PARTNERS FOR CROSS-COLLABORATION AND AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT.
- Income
- $138,128
- Spending
- $176,741
- Spent on programs
- 43%
- Reserves
- -3.2 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 78%
- Employees
- 2
- Volunteers
- 17
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Weak: 17 out of 100. Higher than 4% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, under $250k).
Reserves
0 of 35Spendable reserves are negative: it owes or has committed more than it holds.
Debt
2 of 20It owes 90% of what it owns.
Living within its means
0 of 15Spending exceeded income by 28% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 27% on the year before.
Spending floor
0 of 1543% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 55 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Good: 81 out of 100. Higher than 73% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, under $250k).
Independent board
25 of 257 of 7 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
0 of 8Reports no written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
0 of 7Reports no written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (1)
- $75,291 spent. SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 2016, AKRON SOUL TRAIN HAS AWARDED PAID RESIDENCIES TO 86 ARTISTS AND SUPPORTED AN ADDITIONAL 20 THROUGH PROJECTS CREATED FOR OUR CAPSOUL GALLERY. TO AMPLIFY ARTISTS' VOICES AND ENGAGE OUR BROADER COMMUNITY, WE PRODUCE INTERDISCIPLINARY PROGRAMS ALONGSIDE THE 12 ARTIST- LED INITIATIVES WE HOST ANNUALLY. IN 2024, WE PROVIDED STIPENDS TO 15 ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE AND THREE EMERGING ARTISTS, SHOWCASING THEIR CREATIVE WORK TO THE PUBLIC AND HOSTING 13 COMMUNITY PROGRAMS. ADDITIONALLY, WE SUPPORTED 31 STORE ARTISTS THROUGH MARKETING EFFORTS AND CONSIGNMENT-BASED SALES IN OUR GIFT SHOP. WE ARE ALSO COMMITTED TO BUILDING COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS THAT ALIGN WITH OUR MISSION OF CREATING A DESTINATION WHERE GREATER AKRON RESIDENTS CAN ENGAGE WITH ARTISTS AND PARTICIPATE IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS. IN 2024, WE PARTNERED WITH 12 COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS: SUMMIT ARTSPACE, AKRON PUBLIC SCHOOLS MILLER SOUTH, EAST AVENUE MARKET AND GALLERY, ELIZABETH'S BOOKSHOP AND WRITING CENTRE, KENMORE COMMUNITY CENTER, THE AKRON ART MUSEUM, OHIO AND ERIE CANAL, MILLENNIAL THEATRE PROJECT, AKRON BLACK ARTIST GUILD, ARTS TOGETHER, AND EVENTS AKRON. OUR RECENT DATA HIGHLIGHTS SOME KEY ACHIEVEMENTS WE ARE PROUD OF. SINCE LAUNCHING OUR ONLINE APPLICATION PROCESS IN 2018, WE'VE SEEN A 40% INCREASE IN ARTIST RESIDENCY APPLICATIONS. WE ALSO CONDUCT ANONYMOUS POST-RESIDENCY FEEDBACK SURVEYS, BOTH AFTER EACH RESIDENCY AND TWO YEARS AFTERWARD, TO EVALUATE OUR IMPACT AND ENSURE WE MEET ARTISTS' NEEDS. TESTIMONIALS FROM THESE SURVEYS CONFIRM THAT OUR PROGRAM IS MAKING A MEANINGFUL DIFFERENCE. "AN UNEXPECTED OUTCOME OF MY AST RESIDENCY HAS BEEN AN INCREASE IN QUESTIONS AND INTEREST FROM MY AUDIENCE WHICH HAS IMPROVED MY ABILITY TO VERBALLY SPEAK ABOUT MY WORK AND CONTEXTUALIZE IT FOR OTHERS." "MY PERFORMANCE WAS JUST FEATURED ON NPR'S "SCIENCE FRIDAY", A NATIONALLY AIRED RADIO PROGRAM. IN ADDITION, I SOLD MULTIPLE PIECES OF ARTWORK AND RECEIVED GREAT FEEDBACK FROM THE ATTENDEES AT MY EXHIBITION AND PERFORMANCE. I ALSO CONNECTED WITH A NUMBER OF ARTISTS, CURATORS AND ART COLLECTORS." "I GAINED EXPOSURE TO A NEW AUDIENCE AND LOCALE, COURTESY OF MY INVOLVEMENT IN AN ARTISTIC AST COMMUNITY. THIS NOT ONLY HEIGHTENED MY VISIBILITY WITHIN MY PEER GROUP BUT ALSO PRESENTED A NOVEL EXPERIENCE OF CRAFTING CONTENT FOR INSTAGRAM POSTINGS. MY TIME INTERACTING AND PRESENTING AT THE MILLER SOUTH ART SCHOOL WAS PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT. DEVELOPING A NEW PRODUCTION WITH A SPECIFIC THEMATIC FOCUS ALLOWED ME TO MAKE A MEANINGFUL IMPACT ON THE AUDIENCE, PROVIDING A PLATFORM TO SHARE BOTH MY ART AND THE INTENDED MESSAGE. THIS VENTURE PROVED IMMENSELY GRATIFYING FOR BOTH MYSELF AND MY ART FORM, BHARATANATYAM." SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 2016, AKRON SOUL TRAIN HAS AWARDED PAID RESIDENCIES TO 86 ARTISTS AND SUPPORTED AN ADDITIONAL 20 THROUGH PROJECTS CREATED FOR OUR CAPSOUL GALLERY. TO AMPLIFY ARTISTS' VOICES AND ENGAGE OUR BROADER COMMUNITY, WE PRODUCE INTERDISCIPLINARY PROGRAMS ALONGSIDE THE 12 ARTIST- LED INITIATIVES WE HOST ANNUALLY. IN 2024, WE PROVIDED STIPENDS TO 15 ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE AND THREE EMERGING ARTISTS, SHOWCASING THEIR CREATIVE WORK TO THE PUBLIC AND HOSTING 13 COMMUNITY PROGRAMS. ADDITIONALLY, WE SUPPORTED 31 STORE ARTISTS THROUGH MARKETING EFFORTS AND CONSIGNMENT-BASED SALES IN OUR GIFT SHOP. WE ARE ALSO COMMITTED TO BUILDING COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS THAT ALIGN WITH OUR MISSION OF CREATING A DESTINATION WHERE GREATER AKRON RESIDENTS CAN ENGAGE WITH ARTISTS AND PARTICIPATE IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS. IN 2024, WE PARTNERED WITH 12 COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS: SUMMIT ARTSPACE, AKRON PUBLIC SCHOOLS MILLER SOUTH, EAST AVENUE MARKET AND GALLERY, ELIZABETH'S BOOKSHOP AND WRITING CENTRE, KENMORE COMMUNITY CENTER, THE AKRON ART MUSEUM, OHIO AND ERIE CANAL, MILLENNIAL THEATRE PROJECT, AKRON BLACK ARTIST GUILD, ARTS TOGETHER, AND EVENTS AKRON. OUR RECENT DATA HIGHLIGHTS SOME KEY ACHIEVEMENTS WE ARE PROUD OF. SINCE LAUNCHING OUR ONLINE APPLICATION PROCESS IN 2018, WE'VE SEEN A 40% INCREASE IN ARTIST RESIDENCY APPLICATIONS. WE ALSO CONDUCT ANONYMOUS POST-RESIDENCY FEEDBACK SURVEYS, BOTH AFTER EACH RESIDENCY AND TWO YEARS AFTERWARD, TO EVALUATE OUR IMPACT AND ENSURE WE MEET ARTISTS' NEEDS. TESTIMONIALS FROM THESE SURVEYS CONFIRM THAT OUR PROGRAM IS MAKING A MEANINGFUL DIFFERENCE. "AN UNEXPECTED OUTCOME OF MY AST RESIDENCY HAS BEEN AN INCREASE IN QUESTIONS AND INTEREST FROM MY AUDIENCE WHICH HAS IMPROVED MY ABILITY TO VERBALLY SPEAK ABOUT MY WORK AND CONTEXTUALIZE IT FOR OTHERS." "MY PERFORMANCE WAS JUST FEATURED ON NPR'S "SCIENCE FRIDAY", A NATIONALLY AIRED RADIO PROGRAM. IN ADDITION, I SOLD MULTIPLE PIECES OF ARTWORK AND RECEIVED GREAT FEEDBACK FROM THE ATTENDEES AT MY EXHIBITION AND PERFORMANCE. I ALSO CONNECTED WITH A NUMBER OF ARTISTS, CURATORS AND ART COLLECTORS." "I GAINED EXPOSURE TO A NEW AUDIENCE AND LOCALE, COURTESY OF MY INVOLVEMENT IN AN ARTISTIC AST COMMUNITY. THIS NOT ONLY HEIGHTENED MY VISIBILITY WITHIN MY PEER GROUP BUT ALSO PRESENTED A NOVEL EXPERIENCE OF CRAFTING CONTENT FOR INSTAGRAM POSTINGS. MY TIME INTERACTING AND PRESENTING AT THE MILLER SOUTH ART SCHOOL WAS PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT. DEVELOPING A NEW PRODUCTION WITH A SPECIFIC THEMATIC FOCUS ALLOWED ME TO MAKE A MEANINGFUL IMPACT ON THE AUDIENCE, PROVIDING A PLATFORM TO SHARE BOTH MY ART AND THE INTENDED MESSAGE. THIS VENTURE PROVED IMMENSELY GRATIFYING FOR BOTH MYSELF AND MY ART FORM, BHARATANATYAM."
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since February 2016.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.