Decatur High School Performing Arts Association
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Decatur High School Performing Arts Association's primary exempt purpose is to promote and support performing arts education at Decatur High School as well as Beacon Hill (formerly Renfroe) Middle School through chorus, drama and musical theatre classroom activities and extracurricular activities for over 700 enrolled students. Decatur Performs' volunteers work behind the scenes raising funds, staffing and managing events, and promoting performances so that teachers and students can focus on their art.
- Income
- $293,659
- Spending
- $288,057
- Spent on programs
- 99%
- Reserves
- 5.6 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 71%
- Employees
- 0
- Volunteers
- 60
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 77 out of 100. Higher than 53% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $250k to $1m).
Reserves
20 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 5.6 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
12 of 15Income exceeded spending by 2% of income.
Income trend
10 of 15Income fell 8% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1599% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Fair: 59 out of 100. Higher than 28% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $250k to $1m).
Independent board
25 of 2515 of 15 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
0 of 15Reports no 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.
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 June 30, 2024, 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 (6)
- $89,171 spent. MUSICAL THEATRE: Decatur Performs produced the fall extra-curricular musical Once Upon a Mattress and the spring curricular musical Mean Girls, both at the Decatur High School Performing Arts Center with a cast and crew of over 60. We also produced Beacon Hill Middle School's musical Mary Poppins with a student-led cast and crew of over 100. A total of 18 shows were enjoyed by capacity crowds with nearly 10,500 seats sold. Mean Girls' pit orchestra, under the direction of Dr. Elise Eskew Sparks and featuring 10 DHS students, was given an Honorable Mention by the Shuler Awards.
- $49,950 spent. CHORUS: Decatur High School has 130 chorus students. DHS consistently ranks in the top number of chorus students at All State Chorus and All State Reading Chorus of any public high school in Georgia. Beacon Hill Middle School Chorus has over 200 students in the program. BHMS Chorus had one of the highest number of middle schoolers attending All State Chorus. Both choruses perform their own fall, winter and spring concerts as well as participate in special events for combined choruses and chorus with orchestra. The DHS & BHMS Combined Women's Chorus had the honor of being a featured performance for the opening of the Georgia ACDA Conference.
- $34,106 spent. ACTING: In the fall, Decatur Performs produced the "Shakespearean" play Book of Will, written by DHS alum Lauren Gunderson, with 50 performers and crew members. In the Spring, we produced the play Puffs featuring a cast and crew of 60 students and a special outdoor mystery dinner theatre in collaboration with DHS' Culinary Department. In addition, Decatur Performs produced the middle school play Alice in Wonderland with 60 student performers. These 18 shows played to a total audience of 2600. Over 60 high school acting students were members of the DHS International Thespian Troupe #5905 with more than half attending the ThesCon conference in Columbus, GA in February.
- $26,604 spent. ORCHESTRA: Decatur Performs supports both the Decatur High School Orchestra and the Beacon Middle School Orchestra. The DHS Symphonic Orchestra and the DHS Chamber Orchestra have a combined 50 instrumentalists and the BHMS Orchestras (6th Grade Beginning, 6th Grade Intermediate, 7th Grade and 8th Grade Orchestras) have nearly 100 combined performers. Each school's orchestra performs at least three concerts throughout the school year and participate in All State and Large Group Performance Evaluations (LGPE).
- $44,172 spent. CLASSROOM SUPPORT: Our high school chorus is 130 voices strong, musical theatre classes serve 65 students, acting-70 students, technical theatre -nearly 120 students and orchestra 100 students (and that's just high school classes). All total, our programs support over 700 students. We support their teachers in the classroom by providing wish list items like wireless mic sets, seated risers for the chorus classroom, instrument racks for orchestra, a new grand piano and a dedicated MAC laptop for technical theatre. We also make possible bringing in special instructors such as a stunt coordinator for a tech theatre workshop and guest violin and bass teachers to hold pre-performance clinics.
- $40,500 spent. TEACHER STIPENDS: We provide money to help compensate teachers for the valuable time they put into the performing arts program outside the classroom including concert rehearsals, tech weeks spent after school before shows, weekends creating sets, and, of course, the many performances themselves.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2024, 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 June 2024.
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 February 2018.
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.