Art and Advocacy Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
882015234
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Phone
9087523937
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts Service Organizations and Activities

Reported finances

Revenue
$615,824
Expenses
$1,405,207
Assets
$7,288,617
Liabilities
$430,388

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JESSE KRIMES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • KATE FOWLE (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JESSE KRIMES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $175,351 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The center for art and advocacy (the center) was established in 2022 to serve as a direct path to sustainability and equity for artists directly impacted by the criminal legal system. Built on the success of the right of return fellowship (ror), founded in 2017 by internationally renowned and formerly incarcerated artists jesse krimes and russell craig, the center was created to provide a multi-purposed network that actively engages in the conversation about transformative justice practices-and the critical role they play in the arts community-at-large.

What it reported doing in 2024

The art and advocacy society is a national organization that launched in late 2022 and annually supports six formerly incarcerated persons, through creative industry mentorship, fellowship grants, residencies, networking and education opportunities, and practice sustainability skills development to help build their artistic careers. As the program grows, we look forward to supporting an increased number of participants. We have four programs, which are the general, education, fellowships, and exhibition programs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 86% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 72
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 57.8%; rating input score 58
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd 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: 95.6%; rating input score 96; 43rd 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: 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -128.2%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.19; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.5%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 69.1% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -23.1% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 33.9% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 57.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $812K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $175K · 11 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 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: Program expense ratio scored 58/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.