Central Square Theater
Legal name: Central Square Theater Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 261323224
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2007
- Location
- Cambridge, MA, US
- Phone
- (617) 576-9278
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts, Culture, and Humanities
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,955,679
- Expenses
- $1,943,707
- Assets
- $1,163,718
- Liabilities
- $664,235
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CATHERINE CARR KELLY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
- LAURA ROBERTS (PRESIDENT)
- KIMBERLY HOLLIDAY (VICE PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- CATHERINE CARR KELLY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $71,777 total reported compensation
- LEE MIKESKA GARDNER (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $55,739 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Central square theater, the oldest female-led theater organization in greater boston, is an innovator in the non-profit arts field in collaborative leadership. Cst engages over 35,000 people annually through live performance, rigorous youth education, and community. Cst works closely with mit on catalyst collaborative@mit (cc@mit), one of the only nationwide partnerships between a world class research institute and a professional theater. Cc@mit creates and presents plays that deepen public engagement with science, while providing creative and emotional experiences not available in other forms of dialogue about science.
What it reported doing in 2024
Central square theater is a state-of-the-art theatrical arts facility. As a cultural anchor in the community, schools, families, and community groups benefit from outreach and educational programs, and the local economy is boosted by the over 26,000 audience members that visit cst each year and enjoy the multicultural, multi-generational, urban envirnment of central square, cambridge. Central square theater is a vibrant hub of theatrical, educational, and social activity, where artist and audience come together to create theater vital to the community. The theater is dedicated to providing affordable ticket prices for underserved communities and offers free or discounted tickets to many non-profit organizations. It also hosts collaborative projects such as catalyst collaborative@mit for science.
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.
The verdict
STRONG - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 34
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 76.3%; rating input score 76
- Program expense ratio: 76.7%; rating input score 77
- Fundraising efficiency: $4.79 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th 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 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0.6%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.6; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.57; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.6%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -5.4% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 76.3% of revenue deployed · 76.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $72K · 15 people listed
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Conflict-of-interest policy not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.