Fort Wayne Youtheatre

Legal name: Fort Wayne Youtheatre Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
351551064
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Fort Wayne, IN, US
Phone
(260) 422-6900
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Theater

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$317,644
Expenses
$332,550
Assets
$560,009
Liabilities
$146,037

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ERIN LOWDEN (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • HEATHER CLOSSON (EXECUTIVE DI): $64,217 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Fort Wayne Youtheatre's mission is to educate, engage, and entertain regional youth and families through theatre arts.

What it reported doing in 2024

Youtheatre academy of performing arts: classes and camps provide hands-on training in all aspects of theatre, from acting and stage presence to technical production and creating original works. In 2024-2025, academy programs built the confidence of nearly 450 youth throughout the fall, spring, and summer semesters. Youtheatre partners with the embassy theatre each summer to present "let's put on a show," a performance-based camp opportunity at the historic embassy theatre. In june 2025, youtheatre announced a new program 'young @ heart,' presenting various workshops for theatre enthusiasts and families of all ages in collaboration with Indiana musical theatre foundation. Mainstage productions: in 2024-2025, youtheatre mainstage productions engaged 114 youth on-stage, offered 30 youth opportunities off-stage as technicians, and facilitated school shows attended by 1,503 students. A grand total of 5,696 individuals were served through mainstage shows. Our young heroes of conscious production, something happened in our town, facilitated important conversations about race, policing, and social justice through a structured community dialogue in partnership with fort wayne urban league and united front. The second installment of our 'stories from the stacks: theatre for young readers' collaborative program with the allen county public library was brought to 1,480 individuals completely free of cost, removing the financial barrier. Community outreach: access to the arts is of the utmost importance to youtheatre. We work to engage our community by offering a wide selection of programs to encourage broad participation. Outreach efforts in 2024-2025 included: workshops with the boys & girls club; summer programming with camp red cedar; after-school workshops with elementary-aged girl scouts; and participation in community events, including pbs explorer day, fright night and taste of the arts. Youtheatre on-the-go productions increased their reach from the year prior, reaching 1,185 young people in our community through free performances at schools and community centers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

STRONG - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.9%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 67.7%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $20.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.7%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.68; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.26; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 70.9% of revenue deployed · 67.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $225K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $64K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.