Vibe District Virginia Beach
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Our Mission: to promote, support, connect, and inspire the creative industries to boost our local economy, grow jobs, and enhance our quality of life
- Income
- $458,198
- Spending
- $454,854
- Spent on programs
- 87%
- Reserves
- 2.9 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- government grants, 49%
- Employees
- 1
- Volunteers
- 50
- Highest pay
- $89,808, executive director
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 62 out of 100. Higher than 32% of charities in its peer group (community improvement, $250k to $1m).
Reserves
10 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 2.9 months of spending.
Debt
10 of 20It owes 46% of what it owns.
Living within its means
12 of 15Income exceeded spending by 1% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 3% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1587% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 5 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Good: 76 out of 100. Higher than 51% of charities in its peer group (community improvement, $250k to $1m).
Independent board
25 of 2527 of 28 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
0 of 8Reports no written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
0 of 7Reports no written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
6 of 15Its accounts were not audited or reviewed by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (3)
- $38,077 spent. Art Events - First Fridays, Second Saturdays, Art of Humanity and Small Business Saturday Art events are a key componet of the ViBe Creative Districts year-round program calendar. First Fridays are national movement celebrated in cultural arts districts throughout the country In the ViBe Creative District, Local businesses, artists and creatives host pop-up events, free art exhibits and other entertainment from late afternoon until early evening on every First Friday of the month. Second Saturdays are a daytime compliment to First Fridays and provide daylight hours in which to execute public art projects. Every month on the Second Saturday local businesses artists and creatives host pop-ups, culinary arts specials, fashion or jewelry trends exhibits and occassional public art projects to celebrate the creative art district. The Art of Humanity Partnership with the Virginia Beach Human Rights Commission welcomes community cultural partners to celebrate the Season of Nonviolence. Small Business Saturdays includes popup vendor fair for small, local businesses consisting of artists, crafters, and makers in celebration on the national shop small holiday. In 2024, ViBe added a Creative Mornings Virginia Beach artists lecture series to promote individual artists, entrepreneurs and creative business owners. In 2025, the ViBe Creative District celebrated ten years of public programing
- $67,625 spent. Public Art Projects - ViBe Mural Festival, VB Street Art Festival, Sidewalk Mini Murals, Large-scale Wall Murals, Creative Crosswalks, temporary Fence Murals and other artist lead activities occur throughout the year within the district. Since 2018 the nonprofit has hosted the annual Mural Festival to add 10 Murals in 10 Days to exterior building walls around the district. This continues to be the organizationss largest event, now celebrating seven years. ViBe Creative District began painting creative crosswalks in 2016. This program also continues to this day completing six in 2024. In 2025, ViBe partnered with Virginia Beach Schools to paint a parking lot with seventeen works of art by local students. Working with local artists and the City of Virginia Beach, locations for the creative crosswalks are determined within the Arts District boundaries. Open calls to artists for designs take place in advance of free and open to the public painting events where the chosen artists lead the public in creation of artwork on the street Temporary Fence Murals line over 500 linear feet within the ViBes 18th Street Parklet, as well as the new Mediteranean Ave Parklet & Butterfly Garden. When completed the project will feature 100 plywood murals that will rotate on a 1-2 year basis to afford opportunities for local students and artists to create new work Artists-led activities from mosaic planters to nature walks offer exciting ways for the public to meet working artists and engage in the creative process. In 2025, the ViBe nonprofit added ten murals through the Mural Festival and fifteen new neighborhood identifier murals with the the VB Street Art Festival. Sculptures lining the streets of the district.
- $287,875 spent. Artists Stipends Supporting local, working artists is critical to the success of the ViBe Creative District and is an important part of our arts advocacy efforts. From significant stipends for large wall murals, small stipends for participation in 1-2 hour events to materials reimbursements for new artworks, created for the District and large-scale projects warranting significant stipends, the nonprofit actively fundraised on behalf of the artist community in order to pay artists for their time and talents. Paid artists stipends were critical to our creative community in 2021 during the pandemic when many local artists went without jobs. In 2022, Singer Songwriter Saturdays diversified our artist roster to increase the number of performing artists that included original music in their own sets. In 2023, ViBe partnered with the CIty of Virginia Beach to feature 22 artists works on the back of Convention Center with way-finding signage via digital art wraps. In 2025, ViBe paid over ninty artists to complete mission based works on behalf of the Nonprofit.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since June 2015.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.