The Ballroom Cultural Arts Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
200126402
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2022
Forms available
Form 990 2022
Location
Marfa, TX, USA
Phone
4327293600
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Visual Arts Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$818,119
Expenses
$1,130,988
Assets
$1,096,872
Liabilities
$358,362

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Virginia Lebermann (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAISY NAM (Executive Dir.): $115,558 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To operate an exhibition facility and provide artistic and cultural events in Marfa, Texas through visual art, film, music performances, and conversation.

What it reported doing in 2022

Ballroom Marfa presented 11 visual art, film, and music programs for FY2023, including 4 major visual art exhibitions, 4 educational programs, 1 large-scale musical performance, maintained 2 public installations, and hosted 4 artists in residence. All programs were on view and open to the public, free of charge. Production had also begun on several long-term projects scheduled to debut in the future and leading up to our 20th Anniversary in FY2024. These programs, collaborations, and installations supported over 40 artists, musicians, and visionary thinkers and drew over 32,500 visitors.

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

SUPPORTED - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.2%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 69.5%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 21st 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -38.2%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.97; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.33; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.2%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -6% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.2% of revenue deployed · 69.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $786K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $116K · 19 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2012 to 2022
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.