American Ballet Theatre

Legal name: Ballet Theatre Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131882106
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York City, NY, USA
Phone
2124773030
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$41,012,601
Expenses
$55,099,836
Assets
$63,573,623
Liabilities
$32,018,643

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

46 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SARAH ARISON (PRESIDENT)
  • BARRY HUGHSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (AS OF 3/2024))

Highest reported compensation

  • SUSAN JAFFE (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $518,554 total reported compensation
  • BARRY HUGHSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (AS OF 3/2024)): $439,966 total reported compensation
  • HERMAN CORNEJO (PRINCIPAL DANCER): $257,676 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To create, present, preserve, and extend the great legacy of classical dancing, and to develop a global community of art enthusiasts that transcends cultural boundaries.

What it reported doing in 2024

Educational training and outreach: in 2024, american ballet theatre's department of education and training reached over 40,000 individuals through its programs. Abt's primary outreach program is abt at school: serving 20 nyc schools engaging over 2,500 students. Abt's student training programs include the jacqueline kennedy onassis school (366 students); summer intensives held in-person (725 students) and abt studio company (12 students), a pre-professional program. Abt's teacher training program (abt national training curriculum) had 138 newly certified teachers enrolled in its 2024 courses. To date, the program has certified almost 4,000 (3,982) teachers in 49 states and 63 countries.

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 98% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 72
  • Accountability: 97
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 87.9%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.9%; rating input score 95; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -34.3%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.15; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.5; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.8%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 87.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 37 of 39 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $48.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $519K · 46 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.7M reported
  • Consistency: 45 of 45 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 53/100.