Escape Artists Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
881480693
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Woodstock, GA, USA
Rating
60
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Printing, Publishing

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$104,196
Expenses
$100,075
Assets
$19,687
Liabilities
$6,000

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALASDAIR STUART (VICE-PRESIDENT/VICE BOARD CHAIR)
  • MARGUERITE KENNER (PRESIDENT/BOARD CHAIR/TREASURER)

Highest reported compensation

  • SCARLETT ROSS (MANAGER/BOARD SECRETARY): $3,028 total reported compensation
  • ALASDAIR STUART (VICE-PRESIDENT/VICE BOARD CHAIR): $2,240 total reported compensation
  • ALEX HOFELICH (EDITOR/BOARD MEMBER): $1,525 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Escape Artists Foundation publishes free, audio speculative short fiction to a global audience and cultivates a community of people who love to create and appreciate science fiction, fantasy, horror, and young adult speculative fiction.

What it reported doing in 2024

ESCAPE ARTISTS FOUNDATION'S HISTORY: --Escape Artists is a pioneer in our field. Escape Pod was the first ever audio fiction, submissions-based podcast. --Founded in 2005 by Serah Eley, our first podcast, Escape Pod, published a single science fiction short story every week. Unlike print magazines of the day, our stories were available for free under the then new Creative Commons license, and were distributed in the bleeding edge podcast syndication format as audio recordings. --Escape Pod's sibling podcasts, PseudoPod for horror, and PodCastle for fantasy, were launched in 2006 and 2008. And the podcast explosion followed. We have published continuously from 2005 to today. --Eley stepped away from EA in 2014, handing the reins over to Alasdair Stuart. --EA published the digital magazine, Mothership Zeta, from 2015 to 2017. --In 2015 all our venues became Science Fiction Writers' of America-qualified markets, and the podcasts launched universal narrator pay. --In 2016 EA added a fourth show, Cast of Wonders focused on speculative fiction for young adults (YA), and we began publishing anthologies with PseudoPod's 10th anniversary debut _For Mortal Things Unsung_. --In 2020 we published Escape Pod's 15th's anniversary anthology in partnership with Titan Books. --In 2023, EA became a US registered IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit to further support our mission and values.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 56
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.7%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 80.7%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.2; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.6%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -8.9% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.8% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.7% of revenue deployed · 80.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 13 filed program accomplishments · $81K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $3K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 17 of 17 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.