Asylum Arts Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
811339909
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2021
Forms available
Form 990 2021, Form 990-EZ 2016
Location
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Phone
7186759066
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$431,499
Expenses
$360,073
Assets
$221,902
Liabilities
$3,477

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Rebecca Guber (Founder & Director): $65,078 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Asylum Arts supports contemporary Jewish culture on an international scale, bringing greater exposure to artists and cultural initiatives and providing opportunities for new projects and collaborations. Asylum Arts, a global network of Jewish artists, currently with 696 members in the Americas, Israel, Europe, Australia and Africa, engages audiences with Jewish ideas and community through the vibrant Jewish and Israeli cultural landscape. We have created this international network through facilitated gatherings to build community, and by sparking action through small grants. We empower artists and cultural organizations to create experiences to broaden the impact of Jewish culture.

What it reported doing in 2021

Asylum Arts supports contemporary Jewish culture on an international scale, bringing greater exposure to artists and cultural initiatives and providing opportunities for new projects and collaborations. Asylum Arts, a global network of Jewish artists, currently with 676 members in the Americas, Israel, Europe, Australia and Africa, engages audiences with Jewish ideas and community through the vibrant Jewish and Israeli cultural landscape. We have created this international network through facilitated gatherings to build community, and by sparking action through small grants. We empower artists and cultural organizations to create experiences to broaden the impact of Jewish culture.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 54% for direct work, and 46% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 73.1%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 73.4%; rating input score 73; 47th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16.6%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.62; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18.1%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -5.4% per year; rating input score 0; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 61% of revenue deployed · 73.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $263K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $65K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 44 of 45 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2017 to 2021
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.