Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Dec 2015.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
81 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
8 people listed on the 990; $98K paid to officers and key staff.
Kessler Cuffman’s $80K as Executive Director is at the 75th percentile of top reported officer pay among 2216 $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 · 1 named individual · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kessler Cuffman | $80,000 | $97,917 | $65,000 | $53,874 | $46,041 | $16,875 |
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.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2Yes
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aNo
Programs and updates
Empowers students to create art, music, and technology for personal and community growth.
Questions for Dynamo Studios
Your first name shows with your question. Dynamo Studios answers here, for everyone.
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In-School Program
All in school programs follow various teaching standards that we structure the CLASSES/PROGRAMS around (national arts media and A/V cte standards) so that students are able to receive credit for their time in these classes.
Tennessee department of economic and community development grant:beginning in 2024, dynamo studios were awarded two different grants through the state of tennessee to support our programs that will provide workforce development and digital skills to the students we are serving in school and after school.
Mentorship Program in Schools
Dynamo studios continued to work through funding and staffing several teacher positions that will work at howard connect academy, howard high school, chattanooga preparatory school, chattanooga center for the arts, and tyner middle academy. In addition, we support programming at dalewood middle school and hixson middle school.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2024 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY24 | End FY24 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $178K | $46K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $185K | $173K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $390K | $353K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $0 | $0 |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $390K | $353K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $110K | $104K | $3K | $3K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $150K | $143K | $7K | |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $20K | $18K | $1K | $220 |
| Management feesLn 11a | $4K | $4K | ||
| Legal feesLn 11b | $4K | $4K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $15K | $3K | $12K | |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $97K | $64K | $162 | $33K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $2K | $75 | $1K | $64 |
| TravelLn 17 | $2K | $1K | $394 | |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $2K | $2K | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $52K | $36K | $17K | |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $853 | $853 | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $32K | $24K | $8K | $50 |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $47 | $47 | ||
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $490K | $396K | $57K | $36K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $1.4M | $1.8M | −$353K | $0 | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 Viewing | $452K | $490K | −$37K | $353K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $557K | $296K | $261K | $390K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $243K | $223K | $19K | $129K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $162K | $109K | 990 PDF | ||
| FY2020 | $96K | $100K | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2024 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $452,164 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 9 of 10 board members independent, 3 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $452,164 across 4 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $489,586 across 14 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $352,527 assets, 10 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $352,527 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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