Texas · Nonprofit
DALLAS FILM SOCIETY INC
DALLAS FILM SOCIETY INC (Texas) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $910,087 to it, the largest being COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC ($543,505). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 63% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $454k
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $910k
- Net assets
- $-38866
What Dallas Film Society Inc does
Mission
Dallas Film Society's mission is to celebrate films and their impact on society, to honor filmmakers and recognize their achievements and contributions to enhancing the creative community and to provide educational programs to develop a better understanding of the role of film in today's world and to promote the City of Dallas and its commitment to the art of filmmaking.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Founded in 2006, the Dallas Film Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization sustained by more than 20,000 supporters, volunteers, corporations, grants, and individual donors. We lead multiple educational initiatives to mentor excellence in film, television and digital media. And we proudly support filmmakers, theatres and film organizations locally and globally. The Dallas International Film Festival is held annually. During the Film Festival, Dallas comes together to celebrate film and filmmakers. The Dallas International Film Festival has become the place for storytellers and audiences to connect and experience film as a community. and experience film as a community. Since its founding, the Dallas Film Society has screened more than 2,500 widely diverse new films from more than 100 countries, provided more than $1.1 million in awards, hosted nearly 100,000 filmgoers and filmmakers, and provided educational experiences for thousands of Dallas area students.
$375,076 spent$419,287 earned by the program91% of program spendingDIFF INSIDE FILM is an educational talk series featuring film screenings followed by conversations with directors, producers, screenwriters, actors, and other film industry professionals. Working with our established network of educators throughout North Texas, the screenings are offered to students at no charge. The DIFF INSIDE FILM program is designed to give students first-hand access to insights from film industry insiders to guide their path toward career success in film-related professions. The series features guest speakers and panelists with international, national, regional and local filmmaking backgrounds and experiences. Screenings and Q&As are curated and moderated by DIFF Artistic Director James Faust, who has provided programming leadership to the Dallas International Film Festival since its inception.
$3,971 spent1% of program spendingThe DIFF SHORTS Film Festival is a dedicated celebration of short-form storytelling and cinematic innovation. It serves as a global platform for emerging and established filmmakers to showcase diverse perspectives in a compact, high-impact format. The festival typically features around 12 to 14 themed blocks showcasing over 80 films, ranging from student works to professional productions. The lineup includes narrative shorts, documentaries, animated films, music videos, and horror/late-night thrills. Beyond screenings, the event includes Q&A sessions, industry panels, filmmaker receptions, and daily red carpets to foster connections between creators and the community.
$31,339 spent$35,033 earned by the program8% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $410,386.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $221k to $80k (−64%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 0% · 2022 0% · 2023 25% · 2024 14% · 2025 16%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
61% of DALLAS FILM SOCIETY INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 5 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Michael Mayberry
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2022 and FY2023 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 2 funders, grant income fell $34k → $23k.
4 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 63% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of DALLAS FILM SOCIETY INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
DALLAS FILM SOCIETY INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 60% of grant income and the top three 91%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
91% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund DALLAS FILM SOCIETY INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 89% · 2018 50% · 2019 100% · 2020 97% · 2021 78% · 2022 59% · 2023 100% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
25% of DALLAS FILM SOCIETY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 42% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
63% of DALLAS FILM SOCIETY INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $338k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from Texas funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $573k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
DALLAS FILM SOCIETY INC has grown faster than half of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like DALLAS FILM SOCIETY INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Texas
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
87% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
70%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for DALLAS FILM SOCIETY INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds DALLAS FILM SOCIETY INC?
- DALLAS FILM SOCIETY INC (Texas) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $910,087 to it, the largest being COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC ($543,505). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 63% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does DALLAS FILM SOCIETY INC have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $910,087 in grants to DALLAS FILM SOCIETY INC, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DALLAS FILM SOCIETY INC?
- COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC is the largest funder on record, with $543,505 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DALLAS FILM SOCIETY INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Texas. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Dallas Film Society →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), and the filings of 12 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing