Ballet Tennessee Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
621323708
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2019
Forms available
Form 990 2019
Location
Chattanooga, TN, USA
Phone
4238212055
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Reported finances

Revenue
$235,853
Expenses
$245,293
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MELISSA MEADE (PRESIDENT)
  • ANNA BAKER-VAN CURA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • STACY GOODWIN LIGHTFOOT (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANNA BAKER-VAN CURA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $57,673 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Ballet Tennessee strives to make a positive impact on people of all ages, races, abilities, and economic levels through the art of ballet by providing professional, quality performance and instruction.

What it reported doing in 2019

Scholorship programs; dance alive and talent identification program (tip). A model summer program for low-income youth, dance alive is the feeder program for the tip. It has received numerous awards and recognitions in partnership with chattanooga youth and family development. Since 1997, this program is the first introduction that many inner city youth have to the world of dance. Many youth participants attend each summer for up to 5 years (ages 8-12). The program directly impacts dance in the community, raising attendence at local public arts magnet schools integrating high-quality dance education with mentoring, coaching, and job training. Tip was established to 1)reflect diversity in cultural programming, 2)provide positive alternatives for at-risk youth, and 3)provide mentorship and personal empowerment so that youth may envision their unique gifts and achieve their fullest potential. Geared toward economically disadvantaged youth, tip is a model leadership program. Tip fosters personal empowerment, developing life skills, promoting self-awareness, self-discipline, and mind-body connections. Current and former tip students are pursuing a variety of productive careers, including those as professional dancers, both locally and in New York city. In the fiscal year 2020, 15 youth benefited from tip scholarships and fee waivers valued at $20,290. This represents tuition and fees not collected by ballet Tennessee.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 17
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.6%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 78.5%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $320.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.5%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.6% of revenue deployed · 78.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $193K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $58K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2011 to 2019
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.