California · Nonprofit
SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION
SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION (California) receives grants from 191 organizations whose IRS filings report $47,008,971 to it, the largest being THE BAKER STREET FOUNDATION ($8,000,000). 128 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $71M
- Funders on record
- 191
- Grants received
- $47M
- Net assets
- $-7419315
What San Francisco Ballet Association does
Mission
Sf ballet's mission is to shape ballet's future by creating works of (see sch. O) uncompromising excellence, identifying and developing extraordinary talent, and serving as a catalys for cultural transformation. We blend innovation with accountability, local roots with global resonance, creating experiences that shift perspectives and inspire bold creativity across generations.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
San francisco ballet's legacy and reputation have earned its place among the world's leading ballet companies. The company undertook its first international tour since 2019 and first under the direction of artistic director tamara rojo. This tour marks the first-ever engagement in madrid, spain. On our home stage at the war memorial opera house, company presented a range of classical, neoclassical, and contemporary ballets including 37 nutcracker, 16 frankenstein, 10 manon, 8 raymonda, and 21 performances covering three mixed bill programs. In addition, san francisco ballet school spring festival featured sfbs students in two performances.
$48,121,571 spent$24,458,025 earned by the program86% of program spendingThe association operates san francisco ballet school and a student residence. Over 800 students are enrolled in the school and 60 advanced students from across the us and around the world reside in the student residence. The ballet school curriculum is designed and taught by an eminent faculty, emphasizing a strong classical technique and a flow of movement that suggests a sense of energy, freedom, and joy reflecting the kind of dancing favored by the company. (see sch. O) students ages 2 to 18 follow a structured sequence of training designed to increase their technical skills, stamina, and discipline in accordance with their age and physical development. The program varies according to age and ability and includes classes in ballet technique, pointe work, pas de deux, batterie, conditioning, contemporary dance, and music. Drop-in ballet classes for adult dancers and a program for individuals with parkinson's reach more than 1500 individuals annually. The school also operates a summer session that brings an additional 240 students from around the world to san francisco for rigorous ballet training. The ballet school provides a limited number of tuition and housing scholarships to…
$6,969,663 spentof which $1,235,364 as grants$7,133,611 earned by the program12% of program spendingThe association provides dance education and community engagement programs to youth, families, and adults throughout the bay area. Programs take place in k-12 schools, at the war memorial opera house, in the chris hellman center for dance, and in the community at large, often in coordination with other community-based organizations, and serve nearly 50,000 community members annually. The dance in schools and communities (disc) program is the largest offering targeting youth and it provides free, standards-based dance education to approximately 3000 students in 37 san francisco unified school district early education and elementary schools through an annual residency program. Talented students are also identified through this program to join san francisco ballet school on scholarship.
$720,482 spent1% of program spendingThe artists reserve fund is established by a collective bargaining agreement between the ballet and the american guild of musical artists (agma), the dancers and stage managers union. Each year, a committee of ballet representatives, artists, and a union representative meet to grant money from the artists' reserve fund to eligible artists to assist with funding for their career transition activities.rental income - the association rents out its conference room and studio space. In addition, the association periodically rents out sets and costumes to other ballet companies and dancers in furtherance of the ballet's exempt purpose.
$63,933 spentof which $63,933 as grants$75,167 earned by the program0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $55,875,649.
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 $38M to $46M (+19%).
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 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 1% · 2021 1% · 2022 11% · 2023 4% · 2024 2% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
56% of SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (58% 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
Branislav Henselmann
Executive director (as of 09/24)
Board chair
Alison Mauze
Chair of the board
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 54 funders to 87 funders, grant income rose $3.6M → $6.7M.
34 of 191 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 45% 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: $56M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest San Francisco Ballet Endowment Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION raised.
From the IRS filings of SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 191 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
SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 17% of grant income, and it takes 7 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 7 funders to its left
45% 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 SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 28% · 2018 20% · 2019 24% · 2020 16% · 2021 25% · 2022 16% · 2023 15% — 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
50% of SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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
85% of SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $21M arriving through sponsors registered in 18 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
SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION's funding base is broadening — from 54 funders to 87 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 570 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $280k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$280k
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 SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION
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
83% 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
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- San Francisco Ballet Endowment Foundation · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION: 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 SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION?
- SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION (California) receives grants from 191 organizations whose IRS filings report $47,008,971 to it, the largest being THE BAKER STREET FOUNDATION ($8,000,000). 128 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION have?
- IRS filings report 191 organizations giving $47,008,971 in grants to SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION, 128 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION?
- THE BAKER STREET FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $8,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION 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.
Play a game about who funds San Francisco Ballet Association →
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 191 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