Association of Talent Agents

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
950507253
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Santa Monica, CA, USA
Phone
3102740628
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$863,028
Expenses
$927,229
Assets
$2,481,696
Liabilities
$206,802

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KAREN STUART (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • RITA VENNARI (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • KAREN STUART (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $644,174 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To promote the interests of the talent agency profession. Activities include negotiation of franchise agreements with guilds and unions, guild negotiations, and sponsorship of legislation and programs to meet the needs of the membership.

What it reported doing in 2025

Continuing education seminars, conferences and meetings concerning new labor contracts, test option agreements, new media, commercials and other key issues facing talent agents.

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 89% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.6%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 63.4%; rating input score 63
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • 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: Yes; rating input score 100

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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7.4%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.68; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 69.5%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.6% of revenue deployed · 63.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $587K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $644K · 16 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.