Artworks Trenton Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
221803117
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Trenton, NJ, USA
Phone
6093949436
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Visual Arts Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$421,283
Expenses
$559,174
Assets
$156,248
Liabilities
$58,310

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Craig Shofed (Managing Director): $80,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Artworks is Trentons visual arts center, connecting community, culture and creativity through the arts. We serve regional artists and residents of Trenton and neighboring communities of all cultures and backgrounds with a year-round calendar of offerings.

What it reported doing in 2025

Public Art Events and Programs: Art All Night. Art All Night has been an art and entertainment event in Trenton, N.J. held on the third weekend in June. Generally, pieces of art from artists of all ages, skill levels and mediums are submitted, and thousands attend. In 2021, Art All Night was held virtually due to COVID-19. Art All Day. Art All Day is a day-long open studio, creative space and public art tour throughout the City of Trenton, held in the fall. In 2020, the event became a joint event with Trenton Ciclovia, focusing on ourdoor activities in keeping with COVID-19 protocols. Public art. In 2021, Artworks oversaw several mural and other public art projects in Trenton.

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

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: 12
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.7%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 63.8%; rating input score 64
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -32.7%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.28; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.37; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.3%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.7% of revenue deployed · 63.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $357K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $80K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 16/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.