Gage Academy of Art

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911992593
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2063234243
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Visual Arts Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,999,594
Expenses
$3,654,588
Assets
$8,078,510
Liabilities
$2,631,594

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ERIK HAROLDSON (PRESIDENT)
  • CONNIE MAO (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
  • GAYLE MEYER (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KATHLEEN ALLEN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • KATHLEEN ALLEN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $166,768 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Gage educates, enriches, & transforms our community through the visual arts.

What it reported doing in 2024

Youth programs: gage offers young artists various avenues to engage young artists at various and pivotal phases in their art-making pursuits. Programs included classes offered throughout the calendar year in a range of visual arts media and styles including drawing, digital animation, printmaking, sculpture, silkscreen, collage, and painting. In the summer, multiple camps for youth (ages 7-12) and teens (ages 13-18) provide fun and intensive all day art-making experiences often paired with movement activities such as parkour, capoeira, yoga, and dance. Gage's signature program for teens, the teen art studio, is a free drop-in program that provides a safe and inclusive community for young people age 13-19 every friday night in three locations: gage campus in capitol hill, at bellevue art museum, and in partnership with seamar museum of chicano/alatino/a culture in south park catering to spanish speaking youth.

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 94% 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 most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 44
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 37.3%; rating input score 37
  • Program expense ratio: 59.5%; rating input score 59
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 39.1%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.21; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.33; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.6%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 37.3% of revenue deployed · 59.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $167K · 19 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 37/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 57/100.