Community Access to the Arts Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 043196265
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Great Barrington, MA, USA
- Phone
- 4135285485
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Human Service Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,745,241
- Expenses
- $2,755,979
- Assets
- $9,272,856
- Liabilities
- $24,518
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
21 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- HEATHER WELLS HEIM (PRESIDENT)
- EMILY RECHNITZ (VICE PRESIDENT)
- EVA SHERIDAN (VICE PRESIDENT)
- MARGARET KELLER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- MARGARET KELLER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $188,310 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Community access to the arts (cata) nurtures and celebrates the creativity of people with disabilities through shared experiences in the visual and performing arts. Programs take place in healthcare, therapeutic, eldercare, educational, community, and cultural settings. Our programs serve youth, adults, and elders with developmental and intellectual disabilities, autism, brain injuries, and dementia, through partnerships with many different human services and educational organizations, as well as individuals living at home.
What it reported doing in 2024
Cata arts in & arts out program: in this core program, cata artists attend workshops led by cata faculty artists skilled in the visual and performing arts. Visual arts workshops include drawing, painting, collage, photography, sculpture, and set and costume design. Performing arts workshops include singing, songwriting, drumming, dancing, juggling, and acting. Other workshops include creative writing and yoga.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 78% 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
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: 80
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 53
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 86.9%; rating input score 87
- Program expense ratio: 85.3%; rating input score 85
- Fundraising efficiency: $9.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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: -0.4%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.36; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.8%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 13.8% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 21.6% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 86.9% of revenue deployed · 85.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $188K · 21 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 31/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.