Festival Ballet Albuquerque
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 271993089
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2011
- Location
- Albuquerque, NM, USA
- Phone
- 5054406330
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts, Culture, and Humanities
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $261,013
- Expenses
- $247,220
- Assets
- $38,593
- Liabilities
- $7,982
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- EDWARD K MEREWETHER (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- PATRICIA DICKINSON WELLS (EXECUTIVE DI): $1,100 total reported compensation
- LOUIS GIANNINI (DIRECTOR): $800 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The corporation is formed for educational and charitable purposes, within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code of 1986, to further the appreciation and advancement in the community of the art of dance, to provide performance and educational opportunities to students of dance, and to provide opportunities for this community to be enriched through the public performance of dance, and to do any other act or thing incidental to or connected with the foregoing purposes or in advancement thereof, but not for the pecuniary profit of financial gain, except as permitted under the New Mexico nonprofit corporation act.
What it reported doing in 2025
From january through early may, fba dancers, choreographers and director were working on the spring production of an original production of romeo & juliet presented in may at the national hispanic cultural center, which was a first-time production for fba. Fba presented a free special show on the final dress rehearsal presented to clients of health and human resource organizations whose clients include the homeless, domestically abused women and children, educational initiatives including student of title 1 schools, families of incarcerated individuals, and residents of recovery homes and half-way houses. It is gifted to the community to provide the opportunity for over 600 underserved individuals to have the opportunity to see performances of this caliber that they otherwise would not have access to. -for one week in march, fba dancers traveled to ft. Smith, Arkansas to present two pieces of choreography chosen for the regional dance america (rda/sw). Rda is a prestigious national dance organization of which fba is a southwest regional member and is the only adjudicated and accepted member from New Mexico. Two works of choreography were presented, including one fba dancer being chosen from hundreds throughout the southwest to perform as an outstanding soloist, and who is a native new mexican trained at fba since he was 4 years old. _additionally, through out the spring months, fba performed free on-site mobile history of dance and discovery workshops throughout the albuquerque public schools as part of its vast outreach program for local underserved communities. Fba performed for ten primarily title 1 elementary schools through a generous grant from the city of albuquerque urban enhancement trust fund. -in august, fba held city-wide auditions for the upcoming 2025-2026 season, gaining many new dancers in both the professional level and the pre- professional levels. -in november, fba served as guests of the New Mexico hispanic heritage committee to perform at the presentation event of the hispanic heritage committees for their corazon de cultura awards. In attendance was the mayor of albuquerque, the lt. Governor, the ambassadors to mexico and spain, several city of albuquerque city councilors, several bernalillo county commissioners, and many other dignitaries. -in december, fba produced nutcracker in the land of enchantment. Fba provided 5 public shows, nearly all sold out, as this regional nutcracker ballet has become a favorite annual holiday tradition where entire families attend. A free special show on the last dress rehearsal was presented to clients of health and human resource organizations whose clients include the homeless, domestically abused women and children, educational initiatives including student of title 1 schools, families of incarcerated individuals, and residents of recovery homes and half-way houses. It is gifted to the community to provide the opportunity for over 600 underserved individuals to have the opportunity to see performances of this caliber that they otherwise would not have access to. Additionally, fba provided two school-time show there in the nhcc theater for elementary and middle school students for a greatly reduced price, and in some cases for title 1 schools, students attended for free.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 62% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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
SUPPORTED - 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: 73
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 63
- Sustainability: 31
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 80.7%; rating input score 81
- Program expense ratio: 85.2%; rating input score 85
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 5.3%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.16; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0.8%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 80.7% of revenue deployed · 85.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $211K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $1K · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.