America's River Roots Experience

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
921828855
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Phone
5133579631
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,304,009
Expenses
$2,219,412
Assets
$1,599,358
Liabilities
$300

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KELLY KOLAR (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • TIMOTHY FOGARTY (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • SUSAN FISCHER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SUSAN FISCHER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $118,385 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

America's river roots' mission is a quest to forge deeper connections to america's inland river waterways, aiming to highlight the pivotal role the Ohio river played in shaping our nation. Sparked by america's 250th anniversary, this signature national celebration seeks to inclusively engage wide audiences and boost cultural tourism with experiences that both educate and entertain through intentionally crafted and enriching moments that showcase this unique river culture, its cuisine and music.

What it reported doing in 2024

Robert o'neal multicultural arts center 501(c)3 will develop the content and produce 30 second vignettes on the ohioans that influenced the origins of american roots music. Leveraging the past work of the black music walk of fame and rock and roll hall of fame, this project will elevate national and international awareness about Ohio's rich musical heritage. The vignettes would be distributed on instagram one year before america's river roots event followed by six months of announcing the national roots artists performing at the festival.sounds from the river, an interactive, immersive concert that traces the historical development and migration of musical genres of diverse populations that traveled along the Ohio river.america's river roots festival will debut sounds from the river, a groundbreaking educational production created by kathy wade and learning through art, inc. As part of lta's three-time emmy winning performing arts literacy program, books alive! For kids. The program brings to life the music and stories born along america's great waterways and will premiere as part of the five-day festival, oct. 8-12, 2025, before becoming part of a national curriculum that will share the river's stories with students across the country.this immersive stage experience will be filmed at the prestigious aronoff's p&g theater, with an audience of cincinnati public school sixth graders kicking off artswave' s more art, more kids field trip program. The outdoor concert version at yeatman's cove continues to honor the Ohio river as both a cultural thread and living ecosystem, blending artistry with history to showcase how rivers shaped the nation's music and migration.

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 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 - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. 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: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.2%; rating input score 58
  • Program expense ratio: 86.6%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $44.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th 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: 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 32.8%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.72; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.3%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 192.5% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 138.5% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 102.6% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.2% of revenue deployed · 86.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $118K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 58/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 51/100.