Portland School of Ballet

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010372997
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
Portland, ME, USA
Phone
2077729671
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Performing Arts Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$629,099
Expenses
$634,942
Assets
$169,521
Liabilities
$307

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Nell Shipman (Executive Director)
  • Ellen Weaver (President)
  • Allison Bromski (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Nell Shipman (Executive Director): $53,509 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Portland Ballet is dedicated to bringing dance to people of all ages and skill levels, while maintaining its focus on training young men and women for professional careers. Its Maines professional ballent company and leading classical training in the state.

What it reported doing in 2023

Portland Ballet offers programs for all ages in the following groups Young, Syllabus, Corps and Adult. Its Young Dancer program is designed for dancers ages 3-7 promoting movement to music and developing dancers for the next stage. Its Syllabus is designed for dancers starting at age 7 and progresses through their teen years establishing a strong foundation in correct posture, classical placement, musicality, ballet technique, vocabulary and artistic expression. Its CORPS program is a pre-professional curriculum for high school and post-graduate students. Its three hours of intensive study in ballet, dance history, nutrition and stagecraft. Its Adult drop-in classes range from beginner to advance instruction.Throughout the year to showcase the schools dancers and their talents, the productions put on were Spooktacular, Building Ballets, and the Year-End Show.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 79% 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

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: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 89
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.9%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 72.2%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.81 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th 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: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.9%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.27; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.4%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.4% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.9% of revenue deployed · 72.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $458K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $54K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2012 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.