White Bird

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
931263353
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2021
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
5032451600
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Dance

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,323,841
Expenses
$1,333,338
Assets
$755,485
Liabilities
$509,023

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PAUL KING (CO-PRESIDENT)
  • WALTER JAFFE (CO-PRESIDENT)
  • KEN EDWARDS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • GRAHAM COLE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • GRAHAM COLE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $77,391 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

White bird is committed to bringing the best portland-based, regional, national, and international dance companies to portland, Oregon and to fostering the growth of dance in the region. White bird will do this through presenting established and emerging companies and choreographers, commissioning or co-commissioning new work, and collaborating with other arts organizations in portland and the region to make dance performances possible.white bird strongly believes in making dance exciting, educational, and accessible to everyone, young and old, of all social backgrounds, and will seek to realize these goals through contributed income and sponsorships, which will facilitate outreach to schools and keep ticket prices affordable. As an advocate for dance, white bird will strive to broaden audiences, develop new dance venues, and support both existing and new dance programs.

What it reported doing in 2024

White bird's 2024-25 season featured nine dance companies from across the u.s. And around the globe, divided into a four-show white bird dance series, three-show uncaged series, and two-show we are one festival. This season we renewed our commitment to presenting international artists, with half of our programs featuring companies from brazil, canada, new zealand, south korea, and spain. In november 2024 we continued the legacy of presenting companies from around the world with okareka dance company from aotearoa/new zealand. We closed our season with grupo corpo, brazil's most celebrated contemporary dance company. In october, we welcomed bodytraffic for their portland debut, and throughout the season we introduced new ticket discounts and expanded community engagement to keep world-class dance accessible for all. The highlight of this season was our presentation of the martha graham dance company at the arlene schnitzer concert hall, celebrating the centenary of america's oldest modern dance company. Over 2,100 people joined us for this historic event, which featured graham masterworks alongside newly commissioned works. Our season also included landmark performances by les ballets trockadero de monte carlo, noche flamenca, and changmu dance company, reflecting our ongoing commitment to diversity, cultural exchange, and artistic excellence. Building on a strong foundation, we continue to invest in white bird as portland's vibrant home for dance.

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 99% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 89.3%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.11 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 60; 60th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.7%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.57; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.67; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.8%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90% of revenue deployed · 89.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $77K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 51/100.