Geffen Playhouse Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
954492653
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
3102086500
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Theater

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$13,144,753
Expenses
$15,506,391
Assets
$20,178,292
Liabilities
$4,811,974

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

Leadership & pay

33 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GIL CATES JR (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • GIL CATES JR (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $301,512 total reported compensation
  • TARELL ALVIN MCCRANEY (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $274,201 total reported compensation
  • SARAH WEINBERG (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $161,636 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Geffen playhouse, inc. Is an organization devoted to providing quality theater through a series of productions, workshops, seminar, play readings & lectures to the surrounding communities in the city of los angeles & the students of ucla school of theater, film & television.

What it reported doing in 2024

Geffen playhouse is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to enriching the cultural life of los angeles through plays and educational programs that inform, entertain, and inspire. Founded by gilbert cates in 1994, geffen playhouse is named in honor of entertainment mogul and philanthropist david geffen, who made the initial donation to the theater. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its renowned mix of classic and contemporary plays as well as provocative world premiere productions, geffen playhouse presents a body of work that garners national recognition. Our artistic programming reflects our bold commitment to transforming the landscape of contemporary american theater by prioritizing creative storytelling, new artistic perspectives, advanced technical requirements, and production design, making geffen playhouse a haven for playwrights and a world-class laboratory for new plays. Geffen playhouse is led by artistic director tarell alvin mccraney and executive director/ceo gil cates, jr.each season we produce plays in the 500-seat gil cates theater and in our flexible black box space, the audrey skirball kenis theater. Proudly associated with ucla, geffen playhouse welcomes an audience of more than 80,000 each year and maintains extensive education and community engagement programs designed to involve underserved young people and the community at large in the arts.

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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 82.2%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.51 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -18%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.3; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.5%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 82.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 24 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $12.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $302K · 33 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $715K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.