Elk River Arts & Lectures

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
461773899
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Livingston, MT, USA
Phone
4063332330
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Reported finances

Revenue
$285,019
Expenses
$246,535
Assets
$148,897
Liabilities
$12,423

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • LAURA PRINDIVILLE (PRIOR EXECUT): $52,548 total reported compensation
  • YETTA STEIN (EXECUTIVE DI): $19,022 total reported compensation
  • ANDREA PEACOCK (BOARD MEMBER): $3,597 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See schedule o

What it reported doing in 2025

The organization brings in a diverse array of world-class authors to share their perspectives in public lectures, then interact with students in local classrooms. Each year a writers workshop is held where students from all over the country gather in paradise valley to spend a week working with a renowned faculty of nature writers. Other programs enlist the many writers, artists, and creative individuals who give our community its unique character to share their knowledge and passion with others; we also draw on the ideas of local youth to help them create their own stories, poems, and publications. Organizational expenses include honorariums, travel, and lodging for writers and artists; design and printing costs associated with youth publications (including a booklet featuring elementary school poems); event costs (refreshments, photography); and labor.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 76% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.7%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 75.9%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $29.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Limited
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.5%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.6; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 31.5%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.9% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 25.5% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.1% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.7% of revenue deployed · 75.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $187K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $53K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.