Augustana Arts

Legal name: Augustana Arts Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
841414051
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Aurora, CO, US
Phone
(303) 388-4962
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Performing Arts Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$247,305
Expenses
$258,065
Assets
$82,051
Liabilities
$9,111

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Sara Hare (Executive Director)
  • John Richardson (Board Chair and President)
  • Art Van Dyck (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Sara Hare (Executive Director): $68,750 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

At Augustana Arts, we believe music should be welcoming, meaningful, and accessible to everyone.

What it reported doing in 2024

Augustana Arts supports musical performance opportunities through its Concert Series program. The Concert Series includes Stratus Chamber Orchestra, which engaged more than 40 community musicians who share a vision of performing the finest musical experiences in innovative settings. Stratus presented three live concerts on its own for a total audience of approximately 450 people during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. In addition, Stratus collaborated with Neyla Pekarek, formerly of the Lumineers, to present two performances of A Western Woman in June 2025. More than 500 people enjoyed these performances, one in Greeley, CO and one in Denver, CO. Augustana Arts also presents concerts by local and national musicians at a variety of venues throughout the Denver metro area. There were four such concerts in 2025 drawing a total audience of 417 people. Additionally, three outreach performances brought music to 215 adults and children. Most performances use a Pay What You Can ticketing model that allows those wishing to attend to pay whatever they can afford, removing money as a barrier to music participation.

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

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: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.2%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 68.9%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.4%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.32; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.6%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.3% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.6% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 72.2% of revenue deployed · 68.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $178K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $69K · 13 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.