Wisconsin · Nonprofit
MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC
MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 79 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,256,523 to it, the largest being RICHARD AND ETHEL HERZFELD FOUNDATION INC ($4,562,999). 56 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $8.3M
- Funders on record
- 79
- Grants received
- $11M
- Net assets
- $35M
What Milwaukee Ballet Company Inc does
Mission
Milwaukee ballet transforms lives and connects communities through inspiring performance, community engagement, education and training.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Ballet performances:milwaukee ballet company, founded in 1970, has brought world-class presentation of the art form to its audiences. Milwaukee ballet company's long-term goals include producing inspiring ballet productions for the greater milwaukee community and maintaining a focus on family programming in tandem with a commitment to the creation of new works. During the 2024/25 season, milwaukee ballet welcomed more than 44,000 patrons at 40 performances.
$4,802,613 spent$2,425,343 earned by the program64% of program spendingBallet school & academy:milwaukee ballet school & academy offers children and adults of all ages a complete education in classical dance. It was accredited by the national association of schools of dance in september 2008, making it the only professional studio school in the midwest and one of thirteen nationally to receive such recognition. The accreditation has allowed the school to greatly expand opportunities and benefits provided to its students. Approximately 642 students attend milwaukee ballet school & academy.
$2,086,296 spentof which $137,804 as grants$2,162,641 earned by the program28% of program spendingCommunity engagement & education:the milwaukee ballet ii program provides students with the training needed to bridge the gap between student and professional through performance opportunities in addition to serving as the vital force driving milwaukee ballet company's community outreach programming. As the main arm of milwaukee ballet company's community outreach efforts, milwaukee ballet ii dancers performed for and participated in workshops reaching thousands of children and adults.
$567,218 spentof which $95,760 as grants$21,262 earned by the program8% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,456,127.
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 2018 to 2019, from $13M to $26M (+95%).
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 2% · 2018 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 1% · 2021 13% · 2022 22%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
44% of MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 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.
Chief executive
Tai Pauls
Executive director
Board chair
Cheryl Carron
Board chair & president
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2018 and FY2019 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 19 funders to 39 funders, grant income rose $622k → $1.2M.
15 of 79 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 14% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $9.2M from 5 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest United Performing Arts Fund Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC raised.
From the IRS filings of MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 79 funders by total. 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
MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% of grant income and the top three 53%; half comes from just 3 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 74% · 2018 83% · 2019 42% · 2020 27% · 2021 24% · 2022 27% · 2023 30% — diversifying over time.
“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
57% of MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 71% 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
93% of MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC's grant income comes from Wisconsin funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC's funding base is broadening — from 19 funders to 39 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY 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 Wisconsin
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
64%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY 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 MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC?
- MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC (Wisconsin) receives grants from 79 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,256,523 to it, the largest being RICHARD AND ETHEL HERZFELD FOUNDATION INC ($4,562,999). 56 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC have?
- IRS filings report 79 organizations giving $11,256,523 in grants to MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC, 56 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC?
- RICHARD AND ETHEL HERZFELD FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $4,562,999 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Wisconsin. 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 Milwaukee Ballet Company →
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 79 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