Arts for the Aging Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 521978088
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Gaithersburg, MD, USA
- Phone
- 3012550103
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts Education
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $869,916
- Expenses
- $787,954
- Assets
- $1,032,283
- Liabilities
- $220,688
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- JANINE TURSINI (DIRECTOR AND): $131,686 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Arts for the aging is a human service organization based in greater d.c. That engages regular arts participation to improve physical, cognitive, and emotional health. We connect older adults and caregivers with arts experiences to increase socialization and prevent loneliness. We contract professional artists and equip them with curriculums, trainings, and skills to ignite self-expression and social connection vital to healthy aging and caregiving. We deliver participatory, multidisciplinary arts workshops directly to community and residential care settings that face isolation and treat diverse health conditions. We partner to co-create programs with cultural and educational institutions, and other organizations at the intersection of arts and health. We flip the script on aging by focusing on agency and imagination-what we still can do as we grow older and give care to loved ones. Through dance, music, storytelling, poetry, visual art, and more, we help people connect, create, and fee
What it reported doing in 2025
In 2025, arts for the aging reached 40 communities in greater d.c.; regularly engaged 864 older adults and 181 professional and family caregivers in 405 arts workshops; delivered 283 custom heart kits for art- making at home; and facilitated these programs by contracting 26 professional, trained teaching artists.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 78% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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
STRONG - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 71
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 46
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 72.8%; rating input score 73
- Program expense ratio: 79.5%; rating input score 79
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.08 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 9.4%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.31; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 16.7%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 72.8% of revenue deployed · 79.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $626K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $132K · 18 people listed
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.