Festival in the Park

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
566087310
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Charlotte, NC, USA
Phone
7043381060
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Reported finances

Revenue
$421,391
Expenses
$344,499
Assets
$455,659
Liabilities
$1,373

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TOM GEISLER (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JULIE W AUSTIN (EXECUTIVE DI): $81,063 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Festival in the park brings the community together through free, family- friendly, memorable and inclusive experiences in visual and performing arts. Our non-profit honors the history and heritage of our signature event, the festival in the park, through year-long encounters with our partners engaging in arts experiences in neighborhoods across our community.

What it reported doing in 2025

Annual arts and crafts festival held in a public park.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 78% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 81
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.8%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 84.1%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18.2%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.32; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.5%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.8% of revenue deployed · 84.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 18 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $290K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $81K · 18 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.