Acadiana Center for the Arts Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
510138288
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Lafayette, LA, USA
Phone
3372337060
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,382,823
Expenses
$4,057,164
Assets
$4,746,559
Liabilities
$1,185,145

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

35 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TAYLOR DAVIS (PRESIDENT)
  • SARAH GAUTHIER (PRESIDENT EL)

People named in this filing

  • ED ABELL (BOARD MEMBER)
  • JESS ALLAIN (BOARD MEMBER)
  • JAMIE BALDRIDGE (BOARD MEMBER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Fostering art and culture in acadiana - the aca provides education and outreach activities to all ages, grant funds and assistance to nonprofits, and visual art exhibits and performances in a state-of-the-art facility.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community development - the community engagement program focused on strengthening acadiana's creative ecosystem and supporting artists, culture-bearers, and communities. In 2024-2025, aca delivered 34 public programs and events (workshops, artist roundups, artist talks, state of the arts, and information sessions) with 917 total attendees and engaged 1,397 artists and creatives, including participants in grant programs and public art projects. Aca hosted 11 paid workshops and roundtables with 141 attendees and distributed 222,966 in grants and stipends to 60 awardees through programs such as artspark, arts grants for teachers, Louisiana project grant, lafayette arts and culture grant, the courtney granger memorial award, and the jean breaux award. Participants reported that the combination of funding, workshops, and mentoring made opportunities more accessible and collaborative. Aca also deepened partnerships with lft fiber, the lafayette public art network, and regional public agencies to align cultural programming with broader community development goals.

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 92% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 48
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 42.4%; rating input score 42
  • Program expense ratio: 55.6%; rating input score 56
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 24.6%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.17; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 42.4% of revenue deployed · 55.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 34 of 34 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 35 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 10 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 42/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 56/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 42/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.