Sandglass Center for Puppetry & Theater Research Ltd

Overview

Mission

Sandglass Theater is dedicated to the arts of theater and puppetry as a means of exploring contemporary issues, inspiring dialogue, and sparking wonder. To this end, we develop and promote innovative work in puppetry and theater.

What it reported doing in 2024

Sandglass had a very active year locally with its 2024 installments of the Winter Sunshine Series, the Voices of Community series, and the annual Crankie Show. In addition to shows at our home theater barn, Winter Sunshine artists also presented several school shows. Voices of Community had artists of diverse ethnicities and cultures do seed residencies to develop new material to then share with our local audience. Our biggest local project was our biannual Puppets in the Green Mountains international puppet festival. Puppeteers and theater artists came from across the country and from around the world, as did our audiences. The theme of the festival was "Just Around the Bend." The festival included the world premier of Sandglass's newest production entitled "Feral."

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
043340533
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Putney, VT, USA
Phone
8023874051
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Performing Arts Organizations

Official website

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 65
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.1%; rating input score 58
  • Program expense ratio: 64.2%; rating input score 64
  • Fundraising efficiency: $65.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 70%; rating input score 70; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.9%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.91; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.9%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.1% of revenue deployed · 64.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 10 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $227K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $46K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 annual filings from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Shoshana Bass (Artistic Director): $45,861 total reported compensation
  • Eric Bass (Founder and Director): $39,921 total reported compensation
  • Ines Zeller Bass (Founder and Director): $2,100 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.