Florida · Nonprofit
Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc
Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc (Florida) receives grants from 100 organizations whose IRS filings report $23,560,042 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($6,131,434). 65 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 82% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $16M
- Funders on record
- 100
- Grants received
- $24M
- Net assets
- $19M
What Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc does
Mission
The Mission of the Sarasota Ballet of Florida is to enrich lives, captivate emotions and strengthen the community through the art of dance.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The Sarasota Ballet's expansive repertoire, coupled with the athleticism and artistry of the Company's dancers, has brought the Company national and international acclaim. The repertoire includes works by some of the greatest choreographers in the dance world, such as Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Paul Taylor, and Sir David Bintley to name a few. In addition, The Sarasota Ballet has continued to push the art form forward through commissioning new works, from both budding choreographers within the Company and established choreographers around the globe.
$6,937,331 spent$1,786,492 earned by the program78% of program spendingThe Education department provides dance opportunities for all ages and abilities. The Sarasota Ballet School offers a high quality dance education for children 3 and above. We foster an environment that enables children to learn ballet correctly and safely, develop confidence and we pride ourselves on celebrating each student's individuality. The Margaret Barbieri Conservatory is a pre-professional program for students ages 12 and above to audition, and upon acceptance, receive the highest quality of dance education. The curriculum includes classical technique, pointe, contemporary, variations, repertoire, and conditioning. The Summer Intensive is specifically designed to develop young dancers technique alongside artistry. Students ages 11-21 audition to attend up to five weeks of rigorous dance training in Sarasota each summer.
$1,382,489 spentof which $92,069 as grants$1,768,940 earned by the program16% of program spendingThe Sarasota Ballet believes dance is for everyone and takes pride in making dance accessible to all through our Community Engagement programs. Dance The Next Generation (DNG) was established over 30 years ago and provides equitable access to quality dance education by offering a comprehensive tuition-free dance program to 3-12 graders from underrepresented areas. Through diversified dance offerings, progressing enrichment activities, and ever-increasing community partnerships, DNG students receive a complete 10 year dance experience that supports education, community, and academic excellence for each student. Additionally, our other Community Engagement programs provide access and opportunity for those 5 to 95 to explore and experience the world of dance. Focusing on youth, adaptive, and community, they offer complimentary and low cost programs such as school performances and programs, Joyful Movement Through Parkinson's, Silver Swans, and community experiences.
$542,772 spentof which $20,700 as grants6% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $8,862,592.
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 $17M to $23M (+34%).
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 3% · 2018 2% · 2019 2% · 2020 2% · 2021 10% · 2022 21% · 2023 3% · 2024 2% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
75% of Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (58% 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
Joseph Volpe
Executive Director
Board chair
Sandra DeFeo
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 23 funders to 39 funders, grant income rose $2.0M → $3.1M.
18 of 100 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 82% 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 Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 100 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
Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 26% 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
83% 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 Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 47% · 2018 44% · 2019 51% · 2020 41% · 2021 47% · 2022 31% · 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
38% of Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% 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
82% of Sarasota Ballet of Florida 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 $4.4M that is directly attributable, 51% of it comes from funders outside Florida, across 16 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $19M 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
Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 570 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 570 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $50k on record — $45k federal, $5k state.
- National Endowment for the Arts$45k
- REFUNDS - GENERAL $5k
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 Sarasota Ballet of Florida 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 Florida
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
87%
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 Sarasota Ballet of Florida 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 Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc?
- Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc (Florida) receives grants from 100 organizations whose IRS filings report $23,560,042 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($6,131,434). 65 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 82% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc have?
- IRS filings report 100 organizations giving $23,560,042 in grants to Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc, 65 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $6,131,434 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Sarasota Ballet of Florida Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Florida. 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 Sarasota Ballet of Florida →
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 100 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