American Players Theatre of Wisconsin Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391583361
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Spring Green, WI, USA
Phone
6085887401
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Theater

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,661,137
Expenses
$9,783,813
Assets
$26,333,800
Liabilities
$900,920

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

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ROBERT ZELLERS (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRENDA DEVITA (Artistic Director): $130,092 total reported compensation
  • SARA YOUNG (Managing Director): $126,822 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL BROH (Production Manager): $99,891 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

American Players Theatre's mission is to perform timeless, challlenging, poetic texts with Shakespeare at the center to the broadest audience possible. We strive to share our understanding that great poetry and stories, both from our past and from the emerging voices of our future, can

What it reported doing in 2024

APT Teaching Artists travel to schools to lead workshops and residencies for students across the state of Wisconsin. Workshops are built built to accompany productions in our Student Matinee Series. All schools that have booked tickets to an APT Student Matinee are eligible for a a Fall Workshop visit. In 2024 22 schools hosted Residencies, serving 1,321 students. APTs Classroom Residencies offer a variety of programming options for students grades K-12 throughout the academic year. Residencies are designed to empower students to explore literature like never before with APTs signature flair. In 2024, 21 schools hosted Residencies, serviing 3,409 students.

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.
  • 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.9%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 77.9%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16.1%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.69; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.3%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.9% of revenue deployed · 77.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $130K · 26 people listed
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 5 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.