Dome Fest West

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
922500428
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
3234059416
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Professional Societies, Associations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$69,519
Expenses
$61,677
Assets
$7,040
Liabilities
$10,465

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Ed Lantz (Board Chairman)
  • Mikhaila Stettler (Treasurer)
  • Ryan Moore (Secretary)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Dome Fest West is dedicated to advancing education in fulldome and immersive media. Through an annual film festival, year-round Fulldome Forums webinars, the Best of Earth fulldome awards coalition, and community programming, the organization expands public access to immersive cinema, surfaces excellence in the field, and builds a sustained creator community for this emerging art form. All activities are directly aligned with and are executed in support of this educational purpose, in accordance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

What it reported doing in 2025

DFW 2025 Festival Edition at Fiske Planetarium, University of Colorado Boulder. Objective: To advance education and appreciation of fulldome and immersive media by producing the annual Dome Fest West film festival. Accomplishments: Produced the 4th annual Dome Fest West May 1 through 4, 2025 at Fiske Planetarium, the second consecutive festival at the venue and the most expansive edition in DFW history. The festival expanded across multiple CU Boulder venues including the Fiske Dome Theater, Kittredge KCEN Hall and Stage, and three Village Center rooms. Launched the inaugural Fulldome Forward Expo as a trade component including an exhibits hall and presentations stage for the immersive media industry. Presented 44 films and immersive works from 14 countries across 11 screening sessions in Fiske, plus 18 or more panel and roundtable sessions on topics ranging from fulldome storytelling to spatial audio standards, LED technology, financial models for immersive creators, and licensing and distribution. Concluded with two awards ceremonies including the inaugural Best of Earth international fulldome awards (DFW served as founding partner) presented alongside the established DFW awards across 15 categories. The City of Boulder issued an official proclamation recognizing Dome Fest West Week. Measurement: Total event participants approximately 556, comprising 172 industry passholders, 283 general screening attendees, 72 speakers, 18 sponsor organizations, and 11 organizers and crew. 44 films and immersive works selected from 14 countries. 11 confirmed Fiske screening sessions. 18 or more panel and roundtable sessions across three simultaneous tracks. Audience composition by role (estimated): approximately 30 percent filmmakers, 20 percent planetarium and science center decision-makers, 18 percent immersive technology developers, 15 percent curators and venue programmers, 10 percent academic researchers, and 7 percent other (students, press, public, investors). Social media engagement: 309 photos shared, 413 photo likes, 16 videos uploaded via the Whova event platform. Long-term goal: To establish Dome Fest West as the leading U.S. platform for showcasing fulldome and immersive media.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 78% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 60
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.8%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 93.3%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 62.5%; rating input score 62; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 11.3%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.11; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.49; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 90.5% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.1% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.8% of revenue deployed · 93.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 8 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $58K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.