Danceast Collective

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
871361252
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
6156011897
Rating
56
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Performing Arts Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$334,000
Expenses
$333,352
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Emily Masters (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Lauren Melancon (Education Director): $45,000 total reported compensation
  • Elizabeth Wilkinson (Artistic Director): $30,000 total reported compensation
  • Lara Kennedy (Operations Manager): $24,000 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 cultivate a community of students, artists, and audiences by offering high-quality and accessible dance education, creation, performance, and engagement opportunities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Dance for Every Body. DancEast Collective is committed to making dance accessible to students, artists, and audiences. The Dance for Every Body project was centered around the portion of our mission that seeks to offer highly-accessible, community-based dance programs. While a project focused on offering free dance instruction to pretty much anyone interested in moving their body may on the surface appear to be about dance education (and it is for sure), this project was just as much about exposure to the art of dance and building an appreciation for that art. The impact of the project is in the cultivation of love for the art of dance and the fact that we were able to offer the experience of dancing together as a community to many individuals - ranging from those with a fairly significant amount of dance education/experience to those who had never even stepped foot into a dance class before. DancEast has been offering and promoting dance education, artistry, and outreach throughout the Nashville community for more than a decade. Funding from the Metro Nashville Arts Commission - via a grant for $16,400 - allowed us to expand our reach in very exciting ways in FY25. Additional revenue is donations from community members and businesses. DancEast was founded with the intention of creating a space where anyone could dance in a positive and non-competitive environment, regardless of their background, body type, or socioeconomic level. This project moved us forward in pursuit of that goal.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 89% 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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and a relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 52
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.6%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 58.7%; rating input score 59
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.2%; rating input score 40; 40th 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: 29.7%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -31.8% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21.7% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.6% of revenue deployed · 58.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $45K · 4 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 17 of 17 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.