Cultureworks Greater Philadelphia

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
900619374
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Phone
2678753312
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Community, Neighborhood Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,372,307
Expenses
$1,583,025
Assets
$1,551,710
Liabilities
$851,480

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ARIEL SHELTON (CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • MELINDA STEFFY (CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MELINDA STEFFY (CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $110,771 total reported compensation
  • ARIEL SHELTON (CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $109,290 total reported compensation
  • TAILINH AGOYO (DIRECTOR (UP UNTIL JULY' 2024)): $71,760 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Cultureworks' mission is to provide equitable access to management resources for the makers and preservers of culture.

What it reported doing in 2024

Shared management resources: cultureworks provides fiscal sponsorship, coworking space, and professional development for artists, cultural leaders, and social entrepreneurs. Cultureworks' programs increase administrative capacity and allow cultural leaders to increase operational efficiency in support of their own missions and community-based programming. In fiscal year 2025, cultureworks served 99 fiscally sponsored projects and 220 coworking members. Please refer to the 990 for culturetrust greater philadelphia for financial reporting on fiscally sponsored projects.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 68% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 41
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 37.7%; rating input score 38
  • Program expense ratio: 32.7%; rating input score 33
  • Fundraising efficiency: $68.14 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 82; 82nd 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: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 19th 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: -15.4%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.98; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.55; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.9%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4.8% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.7% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 37.7% of revenue deployed · 32.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $518K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $111K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.