Tennessee · Nonprofit
NASHVILLE BALLET
NASHVILLE BALLET (Tennessee) receives grants from 68 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,373,366 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC ($5,635,991). 47 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 67% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $7.6M
- Funders on record
- 68
- Grants received
- $11M
- Net assets
- $3.5M
What Nashville Ballet does
Mission
Nashville Ballet's mission is to create, perform, teach, and promote dance as an essential and inspiring element of our community. We fill that mission by offering a diverse range of dance programs in our season repertory, educating children and adults in our school of Nashville Ballet, and bringing the joy of dance into the community through our virtual and in-person performances and varied community engagement programming. Nashville Ballet has continued to adapt programming, build operations, and increase budget in order to keep artists, staff, and faculty successfully creating, performing, training, and sharing the art form of ballet with our community and beyond through fy25 and the future.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Since its founding in 1984, Nashville Ballet has grown from a small group of six dancers, to one of the most accomplished ballet companies in the southeast. The mission of Nashville Ballet is to create,perform, teach, and promote dance as an essential and inspiring element of the community. Fulfilling this mission is realized in three ways:(1) presenting a varied repertoire of classical and contemporary works,(2) offering ballet and dance training for all ages and abilities through the school of Nashville Ballet, and(3) bringing community engagement programming to schools, libraries, parks, and community centers throughout middle tennessee.the 2024/2025 season was Nashville Ballet's 39th season and included the following productions and activities:in-person productions:july 2024: second annual dance festival- featuring the Nashville Ballet dancers, our second company nb2, and esteemed guests from alonzo king lines ballet and collage dance collective. October 2024: a double bill of dracula (choreography by paul vasterling, music by bohuslav martinu, and serenade (choreography by george balanchine, music by tchaikovsky)october 2024: frida and diego's dia de los muertos, a world…
$4,846,888 spent$2,516,995 earned by the program65% of program spendingSchool of Nashville Ballet (snb):snb is the area's preeminent school of dance, offering dance training and education for all ages and abilities. Reaching 2,000+ students annually, snb's artistic programming and reputation continues to strengthen and attract national attention by providing world-class dance instruction through its challenging curriculum meticulously designed to inspire and transform students.- adaptive dance: new perspectives (a program of snb) was started in2018 and is a program aimed at making dance available to everyone and every body. It is a 10-week program offered twice a year for youth with physical, cognitive, and sensory disabilities, utilizing a carefully crafted curriculum under the guidance of a licensed occupational therapist and credentialed ballet teacher. Classes are for students ages 4-16 and are held at nb's studio, but students come from across middle tennessee to participate. Most students are referred by a physical therapist. All classes are universally-accessible and not limited to any specific special needs or diagnosis. Classes are offered both in-person and virtually.
$2,471,042 spent$2,117,545 earned by the program33% of program spendingCommunity engagement: community engagement programming has been a core piece of nb's work for over 20 years. Partnerships with schools and community-based organizations help nb reach 16,000+ people annually, making the program a long-standing success. From curriculum-specific programs to broad-based performances, community engagement programs engage diverse populations by focusing on deepening creative engagement in underinvested communities. Nb's strategic plan outlines methods to achieve this by 1) identifying candidates for scholarship study at snb, 2) highlighting dance/dance education as a desirable part of lifelong learning for adults and seniors, 3) furthering inclusivity across performances/programs for individuals regardless of disability status, and 4) expanding arts literacy in the community with a focus on diverse/underinvested areas. This year, nb's community engagement programming continues working closely with community partners to make arts education accessible to all. The following programs are available:- story time events (early readers): teaching artists read stories and guide children through an interactive movement lesson to encourage plot, comprehension and…
$83,110 spent$70,143 earned by the program1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,401,040.
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 2023 to 2024, from $10M to $8.1M (−21%).
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 4% · 2018 4% · 2019 5% · 2020 3% · 2021 32% · 2022 36% · 2023 3% · 2024 4% · 2025 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
36% of NASHVILLE BALLET’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. 6 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
Nick Mullikin
Artistic director/CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018, and between the FY2021 and FY2022 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 20 funders to 33 funders, grant income rose $903k → $1.3M.
12 of 68 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 67% 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: $423k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Nashville Ballet Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money NASHVILLE BALLET raised.
From the IRS filings of NASHVILLE BALLET’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 68 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
NASHVILLE BALLET leans on a few funders — its largest provides 50% of grant income and the top three 68%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
70% 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 NASHVILLE BALLET.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 78% · 2018 70% · 2019 53% · 2020 44% · 2021 39% · 2022 51% · 2023 52% — 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
63% of NASHVILLE BALLET's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% 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
67% of NASHVILLE BALLET'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 $3.8M that is directly attributable, 82% of it comes from Tennessee funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $7.6M 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
NASHVILLE BALLET's revenue grew 33% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding NASHVILLE BALLET receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $194k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$194k
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 NASHVILLE BALLET
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 Tennessee
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
90%
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
- Nashville Ballet Foundation · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NASHVILLE BALLET: 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 NASHVILLE BALLET?
- NASHVILLE BALLET (Tennessee) receives grants from 68 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,373,366 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC ($5,635,991). 47 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 67% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does NASHVILLE BALLET have?
- IRS filings report 68 organizations giving $11,373,366 in grants to NASHVILLE BALLET, 47 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NASHVILLE BALLET?
- THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC is the largest funder on record, with $5,635,991 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NASHVILLE BALLET find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Tennessee. 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 68 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