California · Nonprofit
Dance Film SF Inc
Dance Film SF Inc (California) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $606,457 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($171,100). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 76% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $896k
- Funders on record
- 18
- Grants received
- $606k
- Net assets
- $227k
What Dance Film SF Inc does
Mission
Dance Film SF DFSF brings dance to wider audiences through the presentation and development of dance-based films. We celebrate the best dance films from around the world, encourage and assist choreographers and filmmakers in the creation of new danceworks specifically created for camera, and educate and engage diverse audiences in the wonderful world of dance.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
PRODUCTION PROJECTS: Dance Film SF's Production Projects support the creation and development of innovative dance-based media through collaborating with artists, facilitating commissions, assisting production projects, editorial support and presenting original dance films. Production projects encourage artists to think collaboratively, explore possibilities for expression outside their fields and hopefully inspire future creative relationships. DFSF offers opportunities by engaging professional artists through its Co-Laboratory CO-LAB program that provides tailored editorial feedback throughout the production process to help artists refine their work. The Co-Lab films premiere at the annual San Francisco Dance Film Festival and then screen at other festivals in the U.S. and abroad, putting a spotlight on San Francisco's dance and film communities. These initiatives are designed to nurture emerging and established voices in dance film, encouraging experimentation while helping projects reach completion and wider audiences.
$323,880 spentof which $229,166 as grants$25,561 earned by the program49% of program spendingEVENTS: Founded in 2010 by dancer and filmmaker Greta Schoenberg, the San Francisco Dance Film Festival SFDFF began as a modest screening series and quickly grew into a major international platform for dance on camera. With the addition of Executive Director Judy Flannery in 2013 and a partnership with European Dance Screen, the festival expanded into a multi-day event featuring global submissions, industry panels, and workshops. By its tenth anniversary in 2019, SFDFF spanned ten days across multiple venues, showcasing everything from feature documentaries to shorts programs. Now a leading voice in the field, Dance Film SF presents year-round events beyond the festival, including one-off screenings, artist talks, and community-focused programming. These events bring together diverse audiences, elevate new talent, and introduce dance to viewers beyond traditional performance spaces. Since 2020, streaming services have extended the organization's reach, while the festival's closing night continues to be a beloved celebration of the Bay Area's vibrant dance and film communities.
$294,860 spent$88,343 earned by the program44% of program spendingEducation & Outreach: Dance Film SF creates Educational and Outreach programs to reach wider audiences and foster a deeper appreciation for dance and film. Year-round activities including special screenings, panels, and filmmaking workshops. Touring and outreach programs send highlight reels to international screens and dance media into local schools. Industry events allow Dance Film SF to partner and collaborate with other organizations and venues to create and present curated programs, live performances and films. To nurture emerging talent, DFSF conducts filmmaking workshops that focus on the intersection of dance and film. These workshops cover various aspects of production, from choreography for the camera to editing techniques, equipping participants with the skills needed to create compelling dance films.
$45,412 spent$1,609 earned by the program7% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $664,152.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 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 2024 to 2025, from $142k to $245k (+73%).
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: 2017 0% · 2018 0% · 2020 12% · 2021 25% · 2022 15% · 2023 39% · 2024 14% · 2025 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
87% of Dance Film SF Inc’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 8 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
Judy Flannery
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 3 funders, grant income fell $22k → $18k.
7 of 18 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 76% 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 Dance Film SF 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
Dance Film SF Inc has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 28% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
80% 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 Dance Film SF Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 53% · 2018 57% · 2019 63% · 2020 49% · 2021 70% · 2022 53% · 2023 71% — 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
22% of Dance Film SF Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 39% 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
76% of Dance Film SF 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 $146k that is directly attributable, 78% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $461k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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
Dance Film SF Inc runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 12,262 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 12,262 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Government funding Dance Film SF Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $215k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$215k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like Dance Film SF 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
86%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Dance Film SF 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 Dance Film SF Inc?
- Dance Film SF Inc (California) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $606,457 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($171,100). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 76% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Dance Film SF Inc have?
- IRS filings report 18 organizations giving $606,457 in grants to Dance Film SF Inc, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Dance Film SF Inc?
- DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $171,100 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Dance Film SF Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 18 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing