Activities Beyond the Classroom

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
352222723
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Phone
5132819870
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,256,447
Expenses
$6,363,322
Assets
$2,196,923
Liabilities
$404,950

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Charley Frank (President)
  • Robert Bedinghaus (Vice President)
  • Sally Grimes (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Sally Grimes (Executive Director): $155,373 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide the necessary support for every Cincinnati Public Schools student to engage in extracurricular activities throughout the year, offering the opportunity to build leadership, teamwork, responsibility, and self-discipline that can help them succeed in life.

What it reported doing in 2024

Fine Arts Contract - Contract with Cincinnati Public Schools to provide after school arts programming for CPS elementary schools; guest national music artists presentations for CPS students; musical theater programming at Withrow High School; technical theater workshops for CPS high schools; professional dance choreography presentations at CPS high schools; Black Music in America programming for CPS elementary schools; piano accompanist for CPS students' rehearsals and performances; afterschool strings mentor programming for CPS students; graphic art services on CPS arts events; drama programming at CPS elementary schools; 2024 International Jazz Festival with international artists for concert and mentoring with students, transportation for students to daily practice and teaching sessions, payment for jazz instructors, and some funding secured by ABC to support Jazz Festival concert expenses.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 62% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.7%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 82.6%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.15 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 61; 61st 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: Limited
  • 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 12.3%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.35; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.7% of revenue deployed · 82.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $5.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $155K · 13 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.1M reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.