Boston Ballet Inc
Overview
Mission
The heart of Boston Ballet is the human experience. Through our living and breathing art, we forge human connections-between artist and attendee, teacher and trainee, friend and newcomer, one's outer and inner self. Dance history is human history, full of innate beauty, generational memory, and contradictions. We share many characteristics that define our city, as global leaders of innovation with a rich heritage and diverse culture. But Boston's history is not perfect-and neither is the history of ballet. In order to heal as a community, we must unite against inequality, inequity, and exclusivity. We are Boston's Ballet. We believe in the transformative power of dance to inspire positive change in our community and beyond. We step toward the future, where our art breaks down barriers, opens minds, strengthens our connections to each other, and is shared more widely with all. Because the future of dance is the future of humanity.Together, we move-forward and farther-as Boston's Ballet.
What it reported doing in 2024
Boston Ballet School (BBS): provides a comprehensive dance education with the goal of inspiring, nurturing and sustaining a life-long love of dance in every student. BBS operates state-of-the-art dance facilities in Boston, Newton, and Brookline, and offers programming for students of all ages and capabilities. The Classical Ballet Program for older dancers follows a carefully designed curriculum with nine levels of study. The Preparatory and Foundations Programs for ages 16 months to 9 years introduce children to the art of dance by promoting the exploration of creativity and expression through movement. The Adult Dance Program offers classes and workshops to students of all abilities and experience levels. The BBS Professional Division at Walnut Hill School for the Arts is an audition-only, highly competitive program that provides rigorous training to prepare students for a professional career. The Summer Dance Program is a 5-week summer intensive training opportunity for students globally. Lastly, BBS operates a handful of programs intended to introduce a love of dance to the broader Boston community. Citydance, established in 1991, provides tuition-free dance programming to over 3,000 Boston Public School third grade students. Adaptive Dance, established in 2002, provides creative movement instruction to individuals with disabilities. And BBS instructors provide training workshops to organizations locally and nationwide. BBS and Boston Ballet also engage the community by providing opportunities such as attending Boston Ballet performances and special events/activities, mentoring and teaching, and performing in showcases or community performances.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The nonprofit carried out 100% of its reported program work directly.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 042312734
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2021
- Headquarters
- Boston, MA, USA
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts, Culture, and Humanities
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and the filing reports few safeguards for setting executive pay.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 76
- Transparency & Controls: 81
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 61
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 76.5%; rating input score 77
- Program expense ratio: 85.1%; rating input score 85
- Fundraising efficiency: $9.88 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
- Public monitoring controls: Limited
- Public policy transparency: Limited
- Public financial transparency: Limited
- Impact reporting controls: Limited
- Public relationship transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Public governance controls: Limited
- Zakat policy transparency: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 11.5%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Operating reserve ratio: 2.13; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.42; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.4%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 76.5% of revenue deployed · 85.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 44 of 44 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $39.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $817K · 52 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 48 of 49 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
- Money network: 8 filed money-flow records