Photo Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010680539
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4155754705
Rating
60
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Visual Arts Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$76,348
Expenses
$91,995
Assets
$40,664
Liabilities
$49,759

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STUART BASS (PRESIDENT)
  • KRISTY HEADLEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • LINDA CONNOR (CREATIVE DIRECTOR)
  • BETH DAVILA WALDMAN (DIRECTOR)
  • DANIEL POSTAER (DIRECTOR)

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

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

Overview

Mission

Photoalliance is a san francisco-based non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the understanding, appreciation, and creation of contemporary photography. Founded in 2002, it serves as a community hub for photographers and enthusiasts, fostering artistic expression through public lectures, workshops, and portfolio reviews.the programs outlined bellow serve our community by creating a forum for physical gatherings, presentation of new work, discourse between artists, and opportunities to share personal creative expression and learning experiences in photography with others in the san francisco bay area. Our programs strive to create immediate positive impact and leave a lasting impression on our community, emphasizing the importance of photography as a tool for communication and cultural engagement in our daily lives.

What it reported doing in 2024

Programming: lectures: 6 lectures in fy 24-25, 3 in fall and 3 in spring https://www.photoalliance.org/lecture-archive-2024 https://www.photoalliance.org/lecture-archive-2025 fee structure:1. Venues that were free to use had no charge for attendees2. No zoom lectures were held this fy3. Lecture events that charged for rental were ticketed at $20 through eventbrite goal: sell 50% of tickets at venue to break even on rental4. Students with student id attend freeeach emceed by kristy headley, supported by lucien liu1. Https://www.photoalliance.org/2025-sept-lewis-watts-and-jonathan-mark-jackson sunday, sept 7th, 5:00 pm pdt bayfront theater (bats improv) at fort mason fee structure: lecture event2. Https://www.photoalliance.org/2025-oct-john-divola-and-austin-leong sunday, oct 12th, 5:00 pm pdt bayfront theater (bats improv) at fort mason fee structure: lecture event3. Https://www.photoalliance.org/2025-nov-lukas-felzmann-and-yulia-pinkusevich sunday, nov 2nd, 5:00 pm pstbayfront theater (bats improv) at fort mason fee structure: $204. Https://www.photoalliance.org/2024-chris-mccaw-marking-time-artist-talk-and-book-launch saturday, january 20, 2024, 2pm pstbayfront theatre (bats improv) at fort mason fee structure: free, presented in partnership with haines gallery5. Https://www.photoalliance.org/2024-mar-carolyn-drake-and-ebti sunday, march 3rd, 5:00 pm pstbayfront theater (bats improv) at fort mason fee structure: $206. Https://www.photoalliance.org/2024-may-fazal-sheikhsaturday, may 11th, 11:00 am pdtonline via zoom fee structure: $10 exhibitions: held approximately every 2-4 years.1.https://www.instagram.com/photoalliance_sf/p/cvaetztxvnw/ insight/incite 20/20 portfolio exhibition launch at haines gallery august 25, 2023, 5:00 pm pdt fee structure: free, presented in partnership with haines gallery portfolio review: held approximately every 2-4 years. No portfolio review in fy 23-24. Workshops: 1 workshop held in fy 23-24. Generally 1-2 annually.1. Https://www.photoalliance.org/2024-book-conception-and-design-with-linda-connor-and-sangyon-joofebruary 10 and 11, 2024, 9:00 am to 5:30 pm led by linda connor, facilitated by lucien liu, sangyon joo, and the image flow the image flow, 328 sir francis drake blvd, san anselmo, ca 94960 $375 limited to 10 participants fee structure: classroom reservation $100/day pa hourly employee $30/hour at 8 hours/day = $280 pa provided refreshments $60/day $440 minimum operating cost, assuming instructor time is not compensated other programming: each emceed by rachel phillips and linda connor, supported by lucien liu1. Https://www.photoalliance.org/2023-datz-press-photo-book-exhibition-at-sfcb datz press photo book exhibitionfriday, august 4, 2023, 6:00 . 8:00pm pdt fee structure: free, in partnership with san francisco center for the book2. Https://www.photoalliance.org/2024-photoalliance-community-benefit-dinnerphotoalliance 2024 community benefit dinnerthursday, june 13, 6-9pmsunnyside conservatory, san francisco tiered tickets, attendees receive same benefits: supporter - $95 - 1 ticket to attend, with dinner partner - $250 - 1 ticket to attend, with dinner, and a $155 donation ally - $500 - 1 ticket to attend, with dinner, and a $405 donation sponsor - $1,500 - 2 tickets to attend, with dinner, and a $1,310 donation$95 dinner ticket was at-cost, to remain accessible. The event sold out. Collector print, book, and portfolio sales: prints and books are donated by artists to photoalliance1. Collector prints and books https://www.photoalliance.org/collector-print-catalog-1 https://www.photoalliance.org/collector-books sales ongoing, year-round. Catalog refresh in december and june. Prints and books are donated to photoalliance by artists or organizations. They are sold to benefit the organization, priced on the low end of market rate. Pa occasionally holds back rare books and prints for strategic later release. Holiday promo - 20% off selected prints in the month of decemberhttps://www.photoal

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 73% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 35
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 36.8%; rating input score 37
  • Program expense ratio: 30.5%; rating input score 31

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -20.5%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.44; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.22; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 33.1%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -16.3% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.7% per year; rating input score 0; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.8% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 36.8% of revenue deployed · 30.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $28K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 31/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.