Big Arts Organization Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
873337446
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
3052059494
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,145,022
Expenses
$1,643,084
Assets
$2,062,469
Liabilities
$3,201

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • EDWIN SELLERS JR (PRESIDENT)
  • ROBERT TESTA (VICE PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • EDWIN SELLERS JR (PRESIDENT)
  • ROBERT TESTA (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ADRIENNE PLASKETT (TREASURER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

To advance public appreciation of the arts.

What it reported doing in 2024

Big arts organization continued to operate and tour "titanic's end and "mothership", two large scale mobile art pieces. Significant ongoing improvements to both pieces were made throughout the year.community development continues to be a pillar of big arts organization. Much of the work on the art pieces is volunteer based to support community-driven learning, art and building education. We also held our annual summer camp where attendees worked together to generate new ideas for future art, maintain our existing titanic's end and mothership art pieces, and learn technical, performance, and production skills as we continue to foster emerging creators. A large part of this year's focus has been building out the big arts studio/warehouse where they are able to bring the large scale art projects to life, maintain and store our past projects. Big arts org hosts regular build days for volunteers to participate in fabrication, lighting, welding, printing. Big arts is committed to educational programming for our volunteers and maintaining a safe space to support and expand access to the arts.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 89% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 94.4%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -43.5%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.26; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 35.3% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.4% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 94.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $169K reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.