Ah Haa School for the Arts

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
232594045
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Telluride, CO, USA
Phone
9707283886
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,408,216
Expenses
$2,761,869
Assets
$16,034,374
Liabilities
$195,299

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID BARMAK (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • BETH MCLAUGHLIN (PRESIDENT)
  • MARTY WOLLESEN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARTY WOLLESEN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $192,394 total reported compensation
  • KATHY GREEN (DIRECTOR): $2,555 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The ah haa school for the arts is a community center of learning and culture that offers a wide variety of programs and inspires individuals of all ages to explore, develop, and celebrate their creativity.

What it reported doing in 2025

The ah haa school for the arts which includes the american academy of bookbinding offers year round classes and workshops for youth, teens and adults in a variety of media including bookbinding, ceramics, culinary arts, drawing, painting, fiber arts and more. The school also presents exhibitions and community art events that feature local, regional, national and international artists. Over 2,500 students attended classes and over 10,000 people visited our facilities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 64% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.3%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 82.7%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.68 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -14.7%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.81; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.1%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.3% of revenue deployed · 82.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $192K · 12 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.