Arts Bus Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 454078211
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024
- Location
- Bethel, VT, USA
- Phone
- 8025050882
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Educational Services and Schools - Other
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $202,711
- Expenses
- $201,464
- Assets
- $114,327
- Liabilities
- $1,989
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
People named in this filing
- KIRSTIE PARIBELLO BAILEY (TRUSTEE, SEC)
- COURTNEY BOWEN (TRUSTEE, TRE)
- JOAN FEIERABEND (TRUSTEE)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Empowering children to find joy & authentic self-expression through the arts.
What it reported doing in 2025
The arts bus made direct connections to over 1,500 children and 200,000 people during the year through art educators, materials, supplies, classes and kits. The big bus and its minibus travel year-round to afterschool programs, daycares, schools, summer camps, public libraries, art facilities, farms and public events to empower children to find joy and authentic self-expression through the arts. The arts bus services an area of 4,500 elementary-aged children and regularly engages one-third of them each year with several mediums and art educators. It is a highly efficient nonprofit with 65% of costs and labor committed to program expenses, operating as a 2-person, 2-vehicle team.
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.
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 74
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 64
- Sustainability: 37
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 82.9%; rating input score 83
- Program expense ratio: 83.4%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0.6%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.57; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 24.3% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 82.9% of revenue deployed · 83.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $168K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.