Gallery Route One

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
680068115
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019
Location
Point Reyes Station, CA, USA
Phone
4156631347
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Visual Arts Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$227,284
Expenses
$262,673
Assets
$36,026
Liabilities
$1,348

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CELINE UNDERWOOD (President)
  • PAMELA BLOTNER (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • SHELLEY RUGG (Executive Dir.): $60,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Gro (gallery route one) is a nonprofit, community based, artist-run organization which provides professional exhibition space for visual artists in a rural setting. The gallery serves its local and regional communities by presenting varied exhibitions of contemporary art, and offers educational programs and related events such as lectures, performances and workshops. The organization adheres to a policy of equal access to artists from multi ethnic backgrounds and is committed to assisting artists from diverse backgrounds in presenting their work to the public.

What it reported doing in 2024

From July October, 2024, GRO organized a monthly Point Reyes Art Walk thatwas funded by a grant from the West Marin Fund, with businesses throughoutdowntown Point Reyes participating. This was followed by the Path of Lightsevent in December.In August-September,2024, we held our annual Box Show silent auctionfundraiser.From August December we mounted 10 exhibitions in our galleries.In September we held a fundraiser for our Fellowship Program at the home of adonor. We then began working with this donor on a strategic plan to build ourfinancial stability.In October we mounted a matching gift fundraiser to raise $25,000 with a $12,500match from a donor.In September we began a collaboration Called Wills for West Marin with theDance Palace, Mesa Rufuge, West Marin Senior Services and Community LandTrust of West Marin to present a series of workshops about the value of naming anonprofit in your Will.From September 2024-November 2024, we hosted 2 online productions of theArtists Exchange in which host, Pamela Blotner finds 2 artists who share theirwork and engage in conversation. The audience made up of mostly artists gatherto learn about the artists concepts and processes, and then artist opportunitiesare shared with the group at the end. This reflects our desire to bring morevisibility to the gallery, and to reach more artists.The Artists Exchange Program came to a close. An archive of program videosremains on our website and YouTube channel.October 2024 marked the return of the Mole Dinner, a fundraiser benefittingGROs Latino Photography Project. This event was sponsored by the DancePalace.In November we interviewed the finalists who applied to our FellowshipProgram and selected two.2025From January June we mounted 12 exhibitions in our galleries.May 2025, we received a grant from the West Marin Fund to support anIndigenous Art Festival that we held in Point Reyes Station.In June of 2025, our Artists in the Schools Program held its annual culminatingart exhibition of students artwork at Tobys Feed Barn in Point Reyes Stationthat kicks off during Western Weekend festivities in town.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 75% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 16
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.2%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 56.4%; rating input score 56
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th 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: 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: -15.6%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.14; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.8%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.1% per year; rating input score 0; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.2% of revenue deployed · 56.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $148K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.