Cultural Data Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
454844612
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2018
Forms available
Form 990 2018, Form 990-N 2012
Location
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Phone
2153830700
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$906,332
Expenses
$2,315,596
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ARIN SULLIVAN (INTERIM CEO)
  • CARALYN SPECTOR (INTERIM CEO - LEFT JUNE 2018)

Highest reported compensation

  • CARALYN SPECTOR (INTERIM CEO - LEFT JUNE 2018): $118,190 total reported compensation
  • CHRIS DEGIULIO (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE - LEFT JUNE 2018): $63,474 total reported compensation
  • ARIN SULLIVAN (INTERIM CEO): $59,192 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The cultural data project (dba: dataarts) mission is to empower the nonprofit arts and cultural sector with high-quality data and resources in order to strengthen its vitality, performance, and public impact. See schedule o for more informationthe dataarts accomplishes its mission in three ways:1. Equipping arts and cultural organizations to collect, learn from, and use data effectively;2. Building critical infrastructure for the sector and being a trusted source of high-quality data and knowledge that advances cultural initiatives; and3. Creating a national partnership and platform for cultural data, dedicated to collective learning, leadership, and action.

What it reported doing in 2018

The cultural data project (dba: dataarts) brings the language and leverage of high quality data to the business of arts and culture. Dataarts offers a cloud-based data management platform that cultural nonprofits use to create and share an annual data profile reflecting their organization's financial and programmatic activity. Grantmakers implement this tool as part of their grant application processes and service organizations use the common profile for their discipline-specific data collection initiatives, providing the primary pathways for cultural nonprofit participation. The rich, reliable, and standardized dataset that is created, powers analytic reports and resources that enable cultural professionals to make more informed decisions for better organizational outcomes; allow grantmakers to plan, execute, and evaluate their funding activities; and propel the work of arts researchers, advocates, and policymakers. Dataarts also provides:1. Training and education on the effective use of data for planning, management, and communicating impact and value; and 2. Research and data analysis services to advance the creation of new knowledge and insight and help make the case for the value and impact of the arts, culture, and humanities.program activity ceased within this entity effective august 7, 2018 due to the merger. See the form 990, page 1, box b narrative on schedule o.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 76% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The required major-donor schedule is missing or incomplete and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 4
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 65.1%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0.58 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: No; rating input score 0
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: -155.5%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.4%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -36.6% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -24.7% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 65.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $118K · 21 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $219K reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2013 to 2018
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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 — Transparency & Controls: Major donor itemization scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.