Friends of Montana Shakespeare in the Parks

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
843393904
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Bozeman, MT, USA
Phone
4069943310
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Reported finances

Revenue
$844,744
Expenses
$834,960
Assets
$58,684
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KEVIN ASSELIN (PRESIDENT)
  • RILEY O'TOOLE (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KEVIN ASSELIN (PRESIDENT): $121,485 total reported compensation
  • RILEY O'TOOLE (VICE PRESIDENT): $83,650 total reported compensation
  • CARRIE WINTERSTEEN (TREASURER): $75,957 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Friends of Montana shakespeare in the parks promotes and supports the programs of Montana shakespeare in the parks (msip), which is an educational outreach program of Montana state university. Support is provided through fundraising and serves the population of residents in the 65-town touring area on the five-state summer tour, and k-12 students in Montana and Wyoming served by shakespeare in the schools and Montana shakes! Friends of Montana shakespeare in the parks also supports msip through two direct mail campaigns, a giving day campaign, two in-person benefit events, and by securing several program grants.

What it reported doing in 2025

Summer tour: the 12-week summer parks tour brought free professional performances of henry v and as you like it to residents in 65 communities, consisting of approximately 21,600 audience members across five states (mt, id, nd, wy, and wa).friends of Montana shakespeare in the parks supports the only professional theatre touring program in the region that produces shakespeare's plays, the only company that offers its performances free to the public, ensuring accessibility to all, and the only company in america reaching as extensively into rural areas. Montana and its surrounding states are largely rural and underserved.through all the programs, friends of Montana shakespeare in the parks helps to address a community and region-wide need for high-quality theatrical programs and educational outreach not met by other organizations. By providing relevant, polished classical productions free or at a reasonable cost, and by bringing performances directly to communities and schools across a five-state region, Montana shakespeare in the parks helps to reduce the barriers of cost, distance, and perception that may discourage people from experiencing live professional theatre. Eighty percent of communities reached by Montana shakespeare in the parks have populations of 10,000 or fewer. Sixty-seven percent have populations of 5,000 or fewer. Without support from friends of Montana shakespeare in the parks, citizens across the mountain west would not have access to the arts and cultural experiences that msip, Montana shakes!, or shakespeare in the schools provide.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 75% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 89% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 96
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 43
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.6%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 96.7%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: $103.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 85; 85th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 33.3%; rating input score 33; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 1.2%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.07; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.6%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 29.7% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 37.3% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.2% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 97.6% of revenue deployed · 96.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $808K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $121K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 33/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.