Alaska Jazz Workshop
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
The Alaska Jazz Workshop is a 501 c (3) non-profit community service organization formed to cultivate a support and educational system for jazz music and increase community awareness of jazz music. Its mission will be accomplished by providing jazz education programs and field trips, by presenting student and professional concerts and by networking and complementing programs offered by other jazz organizations in communities throughout Alaska and beyond.
- Income
- $91,855
- Spending
- $82,276
- Reserves
- 6.8 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 51%
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 76 out of 100. Higher than 52% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, under $250k).
Reserves
28 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 6.8 months of spending.
Debt
10 of 20It owes 31% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 10% of income.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
This organization files the short tax form, which does not ask about boards, policies or audits. That is normal for a small charity and is not a mark against it.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending June 30, 2025, 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)
- $80,792 spent. AJW's 7/1/24 to 6/30/25 Activities and Accomplishments: The AK Jazz Workshop's Jazz Education program included 6 Jazz Combo Improvisation classes in the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 Semesters with 40 grade 7-adult students in beginning to advanced combos. Students received 2 hours of weekly instruction in song writing, improvisation skills, music theory rhythmic & melodic dictation, Jazz History, developing standard song repertoire, and building communication skills. Instructors included John Damberg, Nick Petumenos, and Mark Manners. The August 4-9, 2024 AJW Jazz Camp included 5 beginning to advanced small combos for 40 grade 7 -adult students. Students received 25 hours of instruction in small combo communication, performance & improvisation skills, and song repertoire building. Instructors included John Damberg, Nick Petumenos, Mark Manners, Jacques Annandale, and Ruben Lopez Ramos. The AJW presented 5 student recitals to over 484 audience members. The AJW Faculty Jazz Ensemble, including 8 professional Alaska teachers/performers, presented 16 concerts/workshops to 1061 students in the middle & high schools of the Anchorage and Mat-Su school districts. The concerts/workshops exposed students to the joy of creating music using jazz improvisation and to promote the AJW August 2024 Jazz Camp. The AJW's Community Jazz Session program, hosted by AJW instructor and board member Nick Petumenos, featured 50 weekly Community jazz jam sessions from 6:30-9:30 pm. on Mondays at the Fire Island Bakery located at 718 K St, Anchorage, AK 99501. The sessions employed 38 house band musicians performing for an average of 41 weekly audience members with a yearly total of 2135. This was a 32% attendance increase from the 2023 fiscal year. The audience members donated a total of $8,438 for the year with a weekly average of $159.21, which is a 13% increase from the 2023 fiscal year. The AJW also collaborated with the Anchorage Downtown Partnership to present 10 free outdoor jazz community concerts from 4-6 p.m. Saturdays from July 6-August 17, 2024 and May 31-June 1-28, 2025 at Peratrovich Park in downtown Anchorage to over 2,100 audience members from local Alaska to Alaska summer visitors from around the world. The concerts featured 10 local south central Alaska student & professional bands involving 46 musicians. The concerts featured the John Damberg Latin Jazz Quintet, the Blue Dixie Combo, AJW Student Jazz Ensembles, the Mark Manners Sextet, The KP Brass Band, the AK Soul Society, Williwaw Blue, Whereat, Phil Knowlton Band, AJW Community Jazz Session Jammers, the A Town Sharps, Choice Bit of Calico, the Phil Knowlton Band, and the AJW Jazz Camp Faculty Sextet. The AJW awarded 1 full and 8 half tuition waiver work scholarships to for the AJW 2024 Jazz camp, the Fall 2025, and Spring 2025 weekly jazz classes valued at $2,690. Grants received: the Atwood Foundation Grant of $20,000 on 3/27/24 to support the AJW 2024 activities including the 2024 AJW Jazz Camp, the AJW Weekly Community Jazz Session expenses from July 1-October 27, 2024, 16 AJW Jazz Outreach Improvisation workshops in the schools program, and the AJW 2024 Jazz Concert Series at Peratrovich Park in Anchorage, AK. Community donations from the AJW & ADP Concerts in the Park totaled $1522 for the AJW Student Scholarship fund. Community sponsors and donors include the Atwood Foundation, Alaska State Council on the Arts, the Rick and Cyndie Fox Foundation, the MUNI of Anchorage, CARTA-Retired Teachers of Alaska Association, and numerous private donations from Paul Paslay, Heather Tauschek, Peter Schaab, Tim Petumenos, Karen Strid, Stephanie Erickson, Scott and Linda Ruttum, Matt Peterson and Mary DeMers, , Ed Ulman, Mathew Olson, Mary Alice Johnson, Alexander Silver, Marcus and Laverne Lee, Randall Carlson, Dohnn and Kristie Wood, Rich Kinney, and many more. Total grants and donations for the fiscal year 2024 were $46,961.00.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending June 30, 2025, 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 September 7, 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 September 30, 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 September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since May 2001.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 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 October 7, 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.