Dance Film SF Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 455001060
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2016, Form 990-N 2011
- Location
- San Francisco, CA, USA
- Phone
- 8445673333
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts, Culture, and Humanities N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $896,307
- Expenses
- $782,411
- Assets
- $244,880
- Liabilities
- $17,758
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Randall Heath (Executive Dir.): $72,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Dance Film SF DFSF brings dance to wider audiences through the presentation and development of dance-based films. We celebrate the best dance films from around the world, encourage and assist choreographers and filmmakers in the creation of new danceworks specifically created for camera, and educate and engage diverse audiences in the wonderful world of dance.
What it reported doing in 2025
EVENTS: Founded in 2010 by dancer and filmmaker Greta Schoenberg, the San Francisco Dance Film Festival SFDFF began as a modest screening series and quickly grew into a major international platform for dance on camera. With the addition of Executive Director Judy Flannery in 2013 and a partnership with European Dance Screen, the festival expanded into a multi-day event featuring global submissions, industry panels, and workshops. By its tenth anniversary in 2019, SFDFF spanned ten days across multiple venues, showcasing everything from feature documentaries to shorts programs. Now a leading voice in the field, Dance Film SF presents year-round events beyond the festival, including one-off screenings, artist talks, and community-focused programming. These events bring together diverse audiences, elevate new talent, and introduce dance to viewers beyond traditional performance spaces. Since 2020, streaming services have extended the organization's reach, while the festival's closing night continues to be a beloved celebration of the Bay Area's vibrant dance and film communities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 81% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 65% for direct work, and 35% for grants.
- 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 74
- Sustainability: 43
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 74.3%; rating input score 74
- Program expense ratio: 84.9%; rating input score 85
- Fundraising efficiency: $43.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 27th 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: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 12.7%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.31; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 9.2%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 15.1% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 13.2% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 74.3% of revenue deployed · 84.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 12 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $664K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $72K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
- 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: 3 of 7 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 16/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.