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Montana · Nonprofit

NOVA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

NOVA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS (Montana) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $81,329 to it, the largest being MONTANA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ($64,547). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 80% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

Revenue FY2026
$399k
Funders on record
4
Grants received
$81k
Net assets
$176k
4/4 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 7%
01What it does

What Nova Center for the Performing Arts does

Mission

Novas mission is to enhance the performing arts culture of the greater billings region through education, development and performance.

As stated on its FY2026 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Program expenses for productions, dramatic plays, musicals, operas, and improv shows.

    $125,340 spent$125,191 earned by the program
    62% of program spending
  2. Educated students with conservatory program, theater camps, and multiple theater and voice workshops. Awarded youth scholarships.

    $75,959 spent$75,868 earned by the program
    38% of program spending

The 2 programs described on its FY2026 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $201,299.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($317k) Expenses 100 ($306k) Net assets 100 ($24k)2018 Revenue 81 ($258k) Expenses 86 ($261k) Net assets 87 ($21k)2019 Revenue 85 ($270k) Expenses 102 ($312k) Net assets -85 ($-20675)2020 Revenue 73 ($232k) Expenses 81 ($246k) Net assets -132 ($-32264)2021 Revenue 39 ($123k) Expenses 47 ($144k) Net assets -357 ($-87080)2022 Revenue 79 ($252k) Expenses 67 ($203k) Net assets -157 ($-38379)2023 Revenue 92 ($292k) Expenses 85 ($261k) Net assets -31 ($-7618)2024 Revenue 87 ($276k) Expenses 85 ($259k) Net assets 40 ($10k)2025 Revenue 106 ($335k) Expenses 93 ($283k) Net assets 252 ($62k)2026 Revenue 126 ($399k) Expenses 93 ($285k) Net assets 721 ($176k)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25'26
Revenue (126)Expenses (93)Net assets (721)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2025 to 2026, from $448k to $554k (+24%).

$483k
$459k
$414k
$422k
$364k
$379k
$400k
$407k
$448k
$554k
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25'26
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 46% · 2022 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

41% of NOVA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 19,618 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 10 reported years ran a deficit.

$12k
’17
−$3k
’18
−$42k
’19
−$14k
’20
−$21k
’21
$49k
’22
$31k
’23
$17k
’24
$52k
’25
$115k
’26
4.1
months of
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

Dodie Rife

Executive director

As listed on its FY2026 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25'26
Listed13151616131414151514
Joined·+4+3+1+3+5+4+1+5+0
No longer listed·221644051
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $6k → $11k.

2 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 80% 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 NOVA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS’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

NOVA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS leans on a few funders — its largest provides 79% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder 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 NOVA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS.

79%
largest funder
100%
top three
~2
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 72% · 2019 74% · 2020 78% · 2021 75% · 2022 83% · 2023 88% — 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.

Where its funders are

80% of NOVA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS'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 $16k that is directly attributable, 85% of it comes from Montana funders.

MT
OH

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Montana out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $65k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

NOVA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 630 arts & culture nonprofits its size.

Operating margin29% · top quartile
Months of reserve4.1mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)3% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 630 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2026

Organizations like NOVA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

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 Montana

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

71% of spending goes to programs.

Program 71%Management 19%Fundraising 10%

Governance

14
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

61%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

MT

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NOVA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: 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.

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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 NOVA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS?
NOVA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS (Montana) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $81,329 to it, the largest being MONTANA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ($64,547). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 80% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does NOVA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS have?
IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $81,329 in grants to NOVA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of NOVA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS?
MONTANA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $64,547 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like NOVA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Montana. 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 Nova Center for the Performing Arts →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2026 (financials across 2017–2026), and the filings of 4 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