Fuse Theatre Ensemble
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 931182817
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2024–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2020
- Location
- Portland, OR, USA
- Phone
- 9714008276
- Rating
- 65
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Media, Communications Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $230,189
- Expenses
- $243,546
- Assets
- $46,667
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Shareen Jackson (President)
- Kate Mura (Vice President)
People named in this filing
- Shareen Jackson (President)
- Kate Mura (Vice President)
- Rusty Tennant (Artistic Director)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
? Fuse Theatre Ensemble is a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon, dedicated to producing paradigm-shifting theatre that centers marginalized voices, particularly those of the LGBTQIA+ community. Their mission emphasizes creating community and understanding through innovative performances that challenge audiences to exit their comfort zones. They prioritize representation by ensuring that stories about marginalized groups are told by those within those communities. Additionally, Fuse focuses on maximizing funds that go directly to artists, highlighting the importance of the people involved in the art over material expenses.
What it reported doing in 2024
In 2024, Fuse Theatre Ensemble undertook a new program service by serving as the fiscal sponsor for the Oregon Origins Project. Through this sponsorship, Fuse provided administrative and financial oversight to support the project's mission-aligned activities. The fiscal sponsorship enabled the Oregon Origins Project to operate under Fuse's tax-exempt status while advancing artistic work that aligns with Fuse's commitment to promoting diverse and marginalized voices through theatre and performance.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 77% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 60
- Transparency & Controls: 84
- Accountability: 56
- Sustainability: 34
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 68.6%; rating input score 69
- Program expense ratio: 64.9%; rating input score 65
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 9th 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: 75%; rating input score 75; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -5.8%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.19; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11.6% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 68.6% of revenue deployed · 64.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $130K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 16 of 18 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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: Operating margin scored 28/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.