Arts Council Santa Cruz County
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 942600140
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Santa Cruz, CA, USA
- Phone
- 8314759600
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts Council/Agency
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,389,804
- Expenses
- $2,302,245
- Assets
- $3,089,337
- Liabilities
- $1,067,501
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JAMES BROWN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- JAMES BROWN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $152,056 total reported compensation
- SALLY GREEN (INTERIM DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $128,274 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
See schedule o
What it reported doing in 2024
The tannery arts center is home to 100 affordable live/work artist lofts, 28 artist studios, a dance studio, a gallery, a 250 seat professional theater, and the arts council offices. The arts council plays a coordinating role at the tannery, producing community events where tenant artists share their craft, marketing the campus, and its offerings to the public, and working with leadership to support a cohesive, creative community. Open studios - open studios art tour is one of the most amazing art events of the year, connecting tens of thousands of santa cruz residents and visitors to more than 300 artists across santa cruz county. Artists connect with collectors, neighbors and each other, creating a stronger community and generating more than $700,000 in art sales. Line 4d, program services special projects - we work to strengthen our community through projects with unlikely partners, advocacy efforts, cultural tourism initiatives and more. We facilitate art exhibits at the county building as part of an initiative to bring art into civic spaces. The ebb & flow river arts project celebrates and enlivens the tannery arts center, san lorenzo river and santa cruz riverwalk.
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 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 most voting board members are independent. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 72
- Transparency & Controls: 65
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 42
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 75.5%; rating input score 75
- Program expense ratio: 77.7%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: $10.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th 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: 60.9%; rating input score 61; 17th 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: 9 of 9 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: 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: 3.7%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.34; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 12.2%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 75.5% of revenue deployed · 77.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $152K · 13 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: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 9 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 39/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 47/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.