Barter Foundation Inc State Theatre of Virginia

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
546000120
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Abingdon, VA, USA
Phone
2766282281
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,152,907
Expenses
$8,052,593
Assets
$13,417,864
Liabilities
$2,292,665

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

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRIS WALTERS (PRESIDENT)
  • RAMESH MURTHY (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • VIRGINIA BROWN (PRODUCING DIRECTOR): $156,304 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Utilize a resident company of artists to produce and create live theatre for the public good; use the theatre as a vehicle for education for all ages; and to serve southwest Virginia as a tourist attraction.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, barter theatre produced 13 in-person professional shows for adults and families and 5 shows for young audiences at barter theatre for a total of 532 performances, toured 2 shows for young audiences across 9 states, presented 7 free staged readings, and produced a young playwrights festival, college playwriting festival, and black stories black voices monologue festival for a total audience of 155,734.00

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 - 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.8%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 80.8%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.67; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.9%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.1% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.8% of revenue deployed · 80.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 27 of 27 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $156K · 32 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 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.
  • 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 39/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.