Awakening Minds

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264489929
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024
Location
Findlay, OH, USA
Phone
4193023892
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Visual Arts Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$194,615
Expenses
$194,784
Assets
$118,979
Liabilities
$15,969

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KYLE FRIAS (PRESIDENT)
  • JORDAN HAMILTON (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • EMILY SULLIVAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • EMILY SULLIVAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $53,515 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 provide therapeutic and educational visual art programs to all ages & abilities, empowering individuals to build functional everyday skills and confidence.to create affirming, all-inclusive spaces where people have the confidence to develop into the best version of themselves. Awakening minds works towards building skills that help people not only feel success within our community, but to be successful throughout their lives.

What it reported doing in 2025

Community programming:- 1 monthly painting class, open to all ages & abilities at the awakening minds art studio.- specialty classes and summer classes/camps are also held at the studio.- tri the arts summer camp in collaboration with mcpa and heartstring melodies with 22 campers and 23 volunteers spreading the awesome joy and therapeutic power of art, inclusion, and friendship!- the findlay-hancock community foundation granted ama 8 fun for all classes - free public art eventsama partnered with 13 local businesses and organizations to provide more accessibility to the arts, including: - the leipsic community center, gillig winery, false chord brewing, brewing green, hull's trace wine & gathering house, the baker's caf, the children's museum of findlay, hancock hotel, fop lodge #20, reading grounds, 50 north, hancock county public library, and hancock co. Parkinson's network - cops & kids get creative, free classes in collaboration with cops & kids, was made possible by the marianna hofer endowment grant.- free programming & adaptive tools, provided by a grant from the hancock county parkinson's network, began in 2025 for individuals with parkinson's and their caregivers.

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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 56.5%; rating input score 57
  • Program expense ratio: 56.1%; rating input score 56
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st 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: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.1%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.61; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 27.5%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -11.2% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 56.5% of revenue deployed · 56.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $109K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $54K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 21/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.