Danspace Project Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133320972
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2126748112
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Performing Arts Centers
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$682,081
Expenses
$1,327,913
Assets
$1,881,368
Liabilities
$758,457

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MELISSA LEVIN (PRESIDENT)
  • JUDY HUSSIE-TAYLOR (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CHIEF CURATOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JUDY HUSSIE-TAYLOR (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CHIEF CURATOR): $126,124 total reported compensation
  • RASHAUN MITCHELL (SECRETARY): $1,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Danspace project, inc. Is an organization that presents dance works at st. Mark's church in-the-bowery and at other venues in New York city. Founded by artists in 1974 at the historic landmark of st. Mark's church, danspace project is an international leader in the commissioning and presentation of contemporary dance. The mission of the danspace project is to present new works in dance, support a diverse range of choreographers in developing their work, encourage experimentation and connect artists to audiences.

What it reported doing in 2024

Danspace project's 2024-25 50th anniversary season presented 25 public engagements including 10 free of charge, engaging over 90 artists and reaching a live audience of 2626. Danspace commissioned 5 new premiere works by a new generation of choreographers niall jones, ayano elson, wendell gray ii, glenn potter takada, and jade manns. These artists received commission fees and a week-long production residency leading into their performance week. Danspace also presented stacy matthew spence's 2024 commissioned work "i am, here; here with us; where we find ourselves," remounted and co-presented in 2025 through live artery by New York live arts. In addition, danspace co-hosted a free afternoon of readings, music, and performances through "energies: reactivation of gordon matta-clark's rosebush at st. Mark's church" in collaboration with the swiss institute and the poetry project. At 50 forward: "the future is" gathering, 50 micro-commissioned short films by intergenerational danspace artists were screened with celebratory activities around st. Mark's church-in-the-bowery, including live offerings by special guests mayfield brooks, silas riener, angie pittman, ali rosa-salas and nazuk kochhar. Finally, danspace partnered with the New York public library for the performing arts to honor danspace's founding artists and the first 10 years of programming with archival videos and panel discussion featuring cynthia hedstrom, wendy perron, ishmael houston-jones, and carol mullins, organized and facilitated by danspace executive director and chief curator, judy hussie-taylor. "draftwork", a free work-in-process series with panel/audience discussions, curated via open application and hosted by ishmael houston-jones, this year included four showings featuring 8 artists: amelia heintzleman, elliot reed, symara johnson, anh vo, jelani taylor, nile harris, anna therese witenberg, and dominica greene. Other public events included four free dress rehearsals for the immunocompromised, which were presented with limited capacity and fully masked audience and staff.

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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 96
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 68.1%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.75 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 24th 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: -94.7%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.42; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.4; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.6%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 68.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 14 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $905K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $126K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.