Fostering Dreams Project EIN 46-5693262

Fostering Dreams Project

EIN  46-5693262 Public charity (501(c)(3)) Calabasas, CA Founded 2014
Form 990 (PDF) Compare with another nonprofit →
Is this your organization?
Claim this profile to manage it and share your story.
Claim
Provided by the organization

This section is blank until Fostering Dreams Project claims this page.

Know this organization? Claim it to add your story

Size
$100K–1M
What they do
Offers dance and performing arts programs to youth in foster care.
Leadership
Melanie Buttarazzi · Executive Di · $114K
Money in and out
$668K revenue, $477K expenses
Bottom line
76% program efficiency

Offers dance and performing arts programs to youth in foster care. For fiscal year 2025 it reported $668K in revenue, $477K in expenses, and $1.0M in net assets.Pt I

Where the money goes · FY2025
Total revenue
$668K
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$477K
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$1.0M
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expenses (Pt I · Ln 19): $191K
Where spending went · Part IX cols B–D
Program services $0.76 Management & general $0.24
Program efficiency
76%
of spending reaches programs▼ -6% vs prior filing year
Operating runway
25.7mo
months of highly liquid reserves at operating expense rate▲ +2% vs prior filing year
Surplus margin
+29%
revenue over expenses, this year▼ -32% vs prior filing year

Summary of the Filing

Part I · fiscal year 2025 · Form 990
Revenue
$668K
FY2025▼ -4%
Expenses
$477K
FY2025▲ +18%
Total assets
$1.0M
FY2025▲ +20%
Total liabilities
$0
FY2025▼ -100%
Total revenue
$668K
Pt VIII · Ln 12
Total expenses
$477K
Pt IX · Ln 25
Net assets
$1.0M
Pt X · Ln 32
Revenue less expensesPt I · Ln 19$191K
Total assetsPt X · Ln 16$1.0M
Program-expense ratioPt IX · col B76%
Voting members of governing bodyPt I · Ln 33
Independent voting membersPt I · Ln 4pending
Mission & Programs · Part III

Where the work happens

3 program services account for $298K of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2025.
01

Lausd's arts and music based program offers foster youth and other system- involved youth a valuable avenue to engage with dance and access art education. Beyond developing artistic skills, the program also serves as a therapeutic outlet, supporting their social and emotional well-being.

$248Kprogram expense
02

California Arts Council

160 youth benefited

$25Kprogram expense
03

Benefited, arts for healing justice network school programs and workshops: 850 students and educators benefited

$25Kprogram expense

Run this program? Claim this org to tell your story

Identity & Classification

Form 990 Header · IRS Business Master File
Legal nameHdr · item CFostering Dreams Project
EINHdr · item D46-5693262
Principal addressHdr · item CCalabasas, CA
WebsiteHdr · item Jnone reported
Year of formationHdr · item L2014
State of legal domicileHdr · item MCA
Exempt statusHdr · item I501(c)(3) · active
NTEE classificationIRS BMFArts & Culture (A62)
Ruling yearIRS BMFMar 2017

Governance & Policies

Part VI
Voting members of the governing bodyPt VI · Ln 1a3
Independent voting membersPt VI · Ln 1bpending
Conflict-of-interest policyPt VI · Ln 12aYes
Whistleblower policyPt VI · Ln 13No
Document retention policyPt VI · Ln 14Yes
CEO/top-official compensation independently reviewedPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Family or business relationships among officers/directorsPt VI · Ln 2No

Officers, Directors & Key Employees

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
Executive Di
$113,750Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Treasurer
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Melanie Buttarazzi’s $114K as Executive Di is at the 93rd percentile of top reported officer pay among 2213 $100K–1M arts & culture nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 2 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Melanie Buttarazzi$113,750$156,000$129,260$42,000
Melanie Buttarazzi$52,000$38,500

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

See Fostering Dreams Project executive salaries →

Are you one of these people? Claim this org to confirm your role

Statement of Revenue

Part VIII
Program service revenue$521K · 78%
Investment income$70K · 11%
Contributions & grants$55K · 8%
Other revenue$22K · 3%
Program service revenue78%$521K
Investment income11%$70K
Contributions & grants8%$55K
Other revenue3%$22K
Total revenueLn 12$668K

Statement of Functional Expenses

Part IX · allocated across program, management, and fundraising
Allocation · columns B–D
Program services $0.76 Management & general $0.24
Program services76%$363K
Management & general24%$114K
Total functional expensesLn 25$477K

Balance Sheet

Part X · end of year
CashLn 1$1.0M
Total assetsLn 16$1.0M
Total liabilitiesLn 26$0
Total net assetsLn 32$1.0M
Months of cash on handcomputed25.7

Financial Metrics

Form 990 · FY2025 · each ratio shown with the dollars behind it
Liquidity & Payout
Operating runway
Highly liquid reserves $1.0M · Operating expenses/yr $477K
25.7 months
Where the money goes
Program services
Program services $363K · Total expenses $477K
76%
Management & General
Management & general $114K · Total expenses $477K
24%
Fundraising
Fundraising $0 · Total expenses $477K
0%
Cost to raise $1
Fundraising expense (3-yr avg) $22 · Solicited contributions (3-yr avg) $111K
$0.00 to raise $1 (3-yr avg)
Where the money comes from
Contribution dependence
Contributions & grants $55K · Total revenue $668K
8%
Government reliance
Government grants — · Total revenue $668K
Earned-income share
Program service revenue $521K · Total revenue $668K
78%
Investment reliance
Investment income $70K · Total revenue $668K
+11%
Program self-sufficiency
Program service revenue $521K · Total expenses $477K
109%
Growth & trend
Revenue growth (YoY)
This year $668K · Prior year $695K
-4%
Revenue CAGR
FY2020 $101K · FY2025 $668K
+46%
Net-asset trend (YoY)
End of year $1.0M · Beginning of year —
Beginning net assets not meaningfully positive — showing dollar change
Balance sheet
Surplus Margin
Revenue $668K · Expenses $477K
+29%
Liabilities-to-Assets
Total liabilities — · Total assets $1.0M
Net-asset ratio
Net assets $1.0M · Total assets $1.0M
100%
Marketable Investment Share
Publicly traded securities (Pt X, ln 11) — · Other securities (Pt X, ln 12) — · Total assets (Pt X, ln 16) $1.0M
Excludes program-related investments (Pt X, ln 13)
People & payroll
Highest Reported Total Compensation
Individual Melanie Buttarazzi · Reported title EXECUTIVE DI · Highest reported compensation $114K · Total expenses $477K
24%
Personnel share
Salaries, benefits & payroll (Pt IX 5-10) $151K · Total expenses $477K
32%
Peer comparison

Same NTEE category, revenue band, and state where available. Descriptive — not a grade.

MetricThis orgPeer medianPercentile
Program ratio 76%
Overhead ratio 24%
Revenue growth -4%

Straight from the Form 990 — descriptive, not an evaluation. A ratio is hidden when its base is zero or too small to be meaningful; the dollars are always shown.

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2024
Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$50

Similar Organizations

Closest in mission — by what they do
See all organizations like Fostering Dreams Project →

Compare

Search another nonprofit to view revenue, expenses, assets, key metrics, and leaders side by side

Filings & Schedule Manifest

Part IV
III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
FY2025 (Latest)$668K revenue · viewing · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2024$695K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2023$683K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2022$206K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2021$184K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF
FY2020$101K revenue · ⤓ 990 PDF

Want to add your own materials alongside these filings? Claim this org

Sources

Every figure above is drawn from these filings
Form 990 e-file (XML) · FY2025IRS
Classification, formation year, addressIRS Business Master File
Names, privacy, and removal requests More

The names, titles, and compensation shown on this page are reproduced from IRS Form 990 filings, which are public records.

Philanthropy.org does not alter the content of those filings. All information appears exactly as reported by the filing organization for the tax year shown.

We publish only information contained in the public IRS filing — and less than the filing contains. Our profile pages do not display street addresses, telephone numbers, personal email addresses, or other personal contact information, even where the filing includes them.

Many people share the same name. A name shown on this page reflects only what one organization reported in one IRS filing for one tax year. It should not be interpreted as identifying any other individual with the same or a similar name.

If you are no longer affiliated with the organization, your name will generally stop appearing in future IRS filings once the organization no longer reports you. Pages for tax years in which you were reported remain published because those filings remain part of the public record.

Philanthropy.org does not alter or remove IRS filing records. Removing a page from this website would not remove the underlying IRS filing, which remains publicly available from the IRS and other publishers of the same information.

If you believe the IRS filing itself is inaccurate, corrections must be made by the filing organization or the IRS directly.

If you ARE the filing organization, claim this org and add context

Made it to the end? Claim this organization

All figures are derived from public IRS Form 990 filings and are presented without evaluation of any organization. philanthropy.org does not rate, score, or rank organizations, including the peer-cohort and compensation comparisons above.