Elastic Arts Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
020645505
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
7737723616
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Music

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$600,713
Expenses
$480,981
Assets
$842,518
Liabilities
$374,042

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Aaron Rodgers (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Adam Zanolini (Frmr Exec Dir): $65,310 total reported compensation
  • Ben Billington (Co-Exec Dir): $62,536 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Elastic Arts fosters a community of musicians and artists in the Avondale/Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago by developing and presenting creative and independent music, art, and performance events.

What it reported doing in 2024

1) production and presentation of approximately 200 music concerts, performances, and arts events, open to the general public. 2) rental of performance space to local artists for a nominal fee, 3) development of residency programs for emerging chicago artists and curators

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 75% 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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.3%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 89%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $30.22 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 68; 68th 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: 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: NotApplicable
    • 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: 19.9%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.75; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.44; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.6%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.9% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.8% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.3% of revenue deployed · 89% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $428K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $65K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 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: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.