Art in Action

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943342383
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Redwood City, CA, USA
Phone
6505668339
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,395,249
Expenses
$1,342,426
Assets
$678,890
Liabilities
$343,630

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Mary Carbullido (Executive Dir.): $160,978 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

AIA's (Art in Action) mission is to provide children (kindergarten through 8th grade)in the U.S. who lack access to art education an art curriculum that expands their knowledge in art techniques, cultural understanding, and core subject topics, along with providing the art supplies and training for educators and volunteers to bring the curriculum to life. It is the organization's vision that all students in the U.S. have access to art education through our program.

What it reported doing in 2024

Art in Action offers a comprehensive visual arts curriculum that builds artistic skills and cultural understanding from kindergarten through 8th grade. Designed for educators with or without an art background, our structured, engaging lessons make high-quality art education easy to deliver.Students learn about works of art from cultures around the world, how to look at art using art vocabulary and concepts, and how to express themselves by creating their own unique masterpieces. Supported by training classes and on-line resources, the unique spiral curriculum and reinforcing concepts through the 9 program levels students a solid foundation in drawing, painting, and sculpture techniques. The multifaceted lessons develop students critical-thinking skills, creativity, visual literacy, self-esteem, and an appreciation of other cultures. On-line lessons are available on demand to give teachers animated explanations and detailed, easy-to-use directions.Annual Subscriptions - Access our dynamic, common-core aligned curriculum for your grade level with a dozen comprehensive lessons that teach art techniques, skills, vocabulary and history. Webinar orientation and grade-specific trainingOn-line interactive curriculum with printable teaching notes, images and a robust community forum

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 90% 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 most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 59
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.6%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 71.3%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 86.7%; rating input score 87; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 62.2%; rating input score 62; 31st 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.8%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.51; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.51; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.6% of revenue deployed · 71.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 15 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $958K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $161K · 15 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 29 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Independent members within voting members did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.