Cincinnati Arts Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
311310256
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Phone
5137213344
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Performing Arts Centers

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$21,272,958
Expenses
$17,469,674
Assets
$72,646,248
Liabilities
$8,257,730

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jeanette Altenau (Special Vice-President)
  • Richard L Kiley (Special Vice-President)
  • Ben Vetter (Vice President - Ticketing Services)
  • Benjamin T Reece (Vice President - CFO)
  • Brenda Carter (Vice President - Human Resources)
  • Joyce Bonomini (Vice President - Education)

Highest reported compensation

  • Stephen A Loftin (President - CEO): $392,882 total reported compensation
  • Benjamin T Reece (Vice President - CFO): $179,378 total reported compensation
  • Brenda Carter (Vice President - Human Resources): $158,839 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA), a not-for-profit, was founded in 1990 to serve as a manager, presenter and educator. CAA's mission is to present a broad range of high quality performing and visual arts programs to a wide range of audiences, foster an appreciation of the arts and an understanding of their forms, and encourage the use of CAA facilities by local and regional arts organizations.

What it reported doing in 2024

As the region's premier promoter of the arts and entertainment, the Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) promotes life-long engagement in the arts while contributing to individual, organizational, and community wellness. CAA's Education & Community Engagement Department cultivates diverse, inclusive, and accessible arts engagements, seeking to remove barriers preventing arts participation. Committed to a practice of antiracism, the Education and Community Engagement Department encourages the use of CAA venues, develops diverse arts supporters, and fosters an appreciation and understanding of diverse arts disciplines, while encouraging and supporting practicing arts educators and administrators, audiences, and aspiring artists.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 73% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.1%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 76.4%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: 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: 17.9%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.16; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.8%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.1% of revenue deployed · 76.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $13.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $393K · 27 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.9M reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.