Akhmedova Ballet Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
272978701
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2014
Location
Silver Spring, MD, USA
Phone
3013122573
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$299,637
Expenses
$340,816
Assets
$957,574
Liabilities
$648,880

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jacqueline Akhmedova (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jacqueline Akhmedova (President): $70,404 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Dedicated to providing the finest quality ballet training utilizing the Vaganova Method with personal and artistic mentoring to prepare young talented dancers to become strong and fully developed artists ready to take their places in major dance companies around the world.

What it reported doing in 2025

The 2024/25 full-time training program was held in person January-June 2025 and the new 2025/26 training year began in September 2025. ABFs professional training program students prepared for the end of the school year performance of the classic ballet, Dance of the Hours and Pictures at an Exhibition, June 17 at Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center (MCCAC) with these new choreographies by resident instructors and choreographers. Costumes and props were purchased. ABF presented its annual full Nutcracker on stage at MCCAC in December including a low-cost matinee Mini-Nut for elementary students followed by a Q&A and photo shoot with the dancers. Three well-attended summer intensives were held in July and August. As part of its nonprofit community outreach mission, ABA created and danced an original choreography for Montgomery Countys MLK Jr. Celebration at Strathmore Music Center. ABF dancers performed at Shephard Pratt special education school for students with developmental disabilities. Free Peter and the Wolf childrens show in Silver Spring B&O historic train station. Free in-studio performance for the public to Meet the Dancers. ABF continued its community outreach with four free performances at the Montgomery County Schweinhaut Senior Center. A Nutcracker Performance at Riderwood senior communities. Collaboration performance with Downtown Silver Springs Around the World Bazaar. ABA was a sponsor, participated and performed in the Wheaton Arts Parade again. Also performed in the annual Montgomery County Thanksgiving parade. ABA attended national and international (Italy & Canada) ballet competitions receiving Best School, Best Teacher, Best Choreography, Best Dancer, 1st place Small and Large Ensembles and several 1st places for individual dancers. ABAs website has been professionally redesigned to meet current use standards. Increased advertising and social media presence.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 66% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.8%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 83.3%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $134.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -13.7%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.81; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.68; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.7%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.9% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 94.8% of revenue deployed · 83.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $284K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $70K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.