Big Car Media Inc (Dba Big Car Collabo

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
113725157
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2010
Location
Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone
3174506630
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,459,459
Expenses
$1,711,722
Assets
$10,353,730
Liabilities
$2,913,204

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KATIE CLEMENTS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • LOURENZO GIPLE (PRESIDENT)
  • JAMES J WALKER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JAMES J WALKER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $113,110 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Bring art to people and people to art, sparking creativity, supporting communities. As an adaptive and flexible cultural organization, big car draws together people of all backgrounds to promote and perpetuate creativity, invigorate public places, and support better neighborhoods. Big car is a creative community building working to boost livability from an engagement-based arts perspective.

What it reported doing in 2025

Design for good: big car offers quality, moderate-cost design and branding services, and event and marketing planning to non-profits, community organizations, and other public entities. Good, thoughtful design engages people and transforms communities, energizing these pro-social missions. Big car also provides video production, t-shirt design and production, exhibition design, signage and wayfinding, as well as experience design. Public art and programming: big car brings art activities to public locations including markets and parks. Big car produces murals in public places.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 64% 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

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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 36
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 32.9%; rating input score 33
  • Program expense ratio: 42.3%; rating input score 42
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.4 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 30.4%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.05; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.6%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.4% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 32.9% of revenue deployed · 42.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $723K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $113K · 14 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $229K reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 42/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.