Creative Cauldron Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
311816020
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Falls Church, VA, USA
Phone
5712395288
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,125,069
Expenses
$1,188,236
Assets
$3,174,471
Liabilities
$2,674,336

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Ben Jenkins (President)
  • Becky Manicone (Vice President)
  • Elizabeth Meade (Ex-officio/Executive director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Laura Conners Hull (Ex-officio/Founding Artistic Director): $72,050 total reported compensation
  • Elizabeth Meade (Ex-officio/Executive director): $36,565 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Produce and present theater and music performances and provide educational workshops in the performing and visual arts for youth and adults.

What it reported doing in 2025

Educational Arts Programs - Creative Cauldron offered 7 sessions of Arts Adventure Camps in the performing and visual arts over the spring and summer months. Scholarships were provided for students with financial need. Each session ended with a final performance and total attendance for these was 648. Workshop offerings included Learning Theater Studios for youth, the Learning Theater studios for young people, the Learning Theater and Musical Theater Ensembles, Comics and Cartooning, Group Voice Lessions and on-line Adult visual arts classes reaching 547 students. Under our were offered under our Artes Para Todos initiative serving youth in at risk communities and Title One schools, 6 free workshops were offered reaching 179 students. 7 culminating student performances (also free) were held with 933 in attendance.

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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 52
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.4%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 73.2%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 45; 45th 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: 50%; rating input score 50; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -5.6%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.67; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.84; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.1%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.7% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.4% of revenue deployed · 73.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 18 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $870K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $72K · 23 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.