Arts for Learning Maryland Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 520698849
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Baltimore, MD, USA
- Phone
- 8552452787
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts Education
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $16,567,856
- Expenses
- $15,767,488
- Assets
- $14,064,779
- Liabilities
- $1,882,988
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
31 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- STACIE SANDERS EVANS (PRESIDENT & CEO)
- KATHLEEN BASHAM (VICE PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- STACIE SANDERS EVANS (PRESIDENT & CEO): $228,643 total reported compensation
- DR MARK KING (CHIEF EDUCATION OFFICER): $175,819 total reported compensation
- KATHLEEN BASHAM (VICE PRESIDENT): $169,615 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 organization's mission is to transform the lives and education of our youth through the arts by connecting educators, professional artists, and communities. This mission is achieved by providing assemblies, workshops, residencies, professional opportunities for educators and artists that are aligned with common core state standards and are accessible to any organization or school regardless of their resources. Arts for learning conducts research to demonstrate the effectiveness of its arts integration model on student achievement and social emotional development. Arts for learning received a 4 year research grant from the us department of education (education innovation research) which, when completed, will be the largest data collection of an arts integration model in the country. A4l aims to use this research, as well as its past research, to influence teaching and learning at a state level.
What it reported doing in 2024
The organization drives student success and community connection across Maryland through a comprehensive suite of arts-integrated educational programs. This includes live assemblies that expose audiences of up to 250 students at a time to diverse cultures, core curricula, and social-emotional skills; classroom residencies (serving youth from birth through grade 12) where professional teaching artists collaborate with educators to deliver deep-dive fine arts and arts-integrated lessons; and hands-on family engagement workshops that blend arts with literacy, stem, and community building. To expand statewide access, the organization hosts live-streamed virtual cultural festivals for schools, while simultaneously delivering robust professional development programsranging from localized workshops to intensive, yearlong fellowships for school leadersthat empower adults to use the arts as a powerful vehicle for inspiration, equity, and joy.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 72% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- 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
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 84
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 86
- Sustainability: 47
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 89.1%; rating input score 89
- Program expense ratio: 93.6%; rating input score 94
- Fundraising efficiency: $7.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
- 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: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 4.8%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.89; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.7%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 18.7% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 17.3% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 21.1% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 89.1% of revenue deployed · 93.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 23 of 23 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $14.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $229K · 31 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $106K reported
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 29/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.