Houston Ballet Foundation: $38.8M Revenue, $30.2M Program Expenses

The efficiency rubric puts Houston Ballet Foundation at a B grade: a composite of 68/100 that lands above the national midpoint. The grade reflects solid program-spending discipline alongside reasonable executive compensation and financial reserves.

Houston Ballet Foundation reported $38.8M in 2023 revenue — a mid-sized nonprofit by U.S. standards. Organizations in this bracket typically operate with a small permanent staff, project-based program structures, and modest reserves. Houston Ballet Foundation directs 80% of its expenses to programs — above the third-party-rater threshold for an efficient organization.

Revenue trend is mildly positive across the five-year filing window — modest growth, consistent with stable funding sources keeping pace with organizational costs. CEO compensation is reported as zero in the filing — typical for nonprofits where the chief executive is paid through a related entity (parent system, university, or foundation) rather than the filing organization itself, or for small organizations whose chief is a volunteer or board member. Houston Ballet Foundation sits in the cultural-nonprofit sector (Arts, Culture & Humanities). Museum, performing-arts, and cultural organizations carry distinctive financial patterns — earned revenue from ticket sales and admissions, plus a heavy reliance on endowment income and major donor cycles.