Castle of Our Skins Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
834164245
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Roxbury, MA, USA
Phone
4436301638
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,321,263
Expenses
$879,619
Assets
$1,887,778
Liabilities
$22,798

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

People named in this filing

  • LYNN DUVAL LUSE (DIRECTOR)
  • STEPH DAVIS (CHAIR)
  • REBECCA HASKO (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

Castle of our skins is a black arts institution dedicated to fostering cultural curiosity and celebrating black artistry through music. In classrooms, concert halls, and beyond, castle of our skins invites black heritage and culture exploration, spotlighting both unsung and celebrated figures of past and present.

What it reported doing in 2024

Castle of our skins develops and disseminated resources toward learning creation, and discovery. Overall, we aim to purse two overarching goals in our programming: deeper relationships with partners and communities and magnified impact through the dissemination of online resources and carefully targeted expansions into new communities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 86% 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.
  • 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: 49
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 84
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 29.4%; rating input score 29
  • Program expense ratio: 77.5%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $23.17 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 10th 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 62.1%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.15; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 32.6% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 45% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 43.5% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 29.4% of revenue deployed · 77.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $682K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 29/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.