Goodspeed Opera House Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131969314
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
East Haddam, CT, USA
Phone
8608738664
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Theater

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,131,878
Expenses
$15,424,331
Assets
$31,917,617
Liabilities
$3,926,367

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

Leadership & pay

35 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HILA ROSEN (President)
  • JEFFREY S HOFFMAN (1st Vice President)
  • ANTHONY CACACE (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • DONNA LYNN COOPER HILTON (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $249,913 total reported compensation
  • David Byrd (managing dir., thru 9/24): $182,425 total reported compensation
  • FRANK STILWAGNER (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $137,812 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Goodspeed musicals' mission is to share the joy of musical theatre; to delight, inspire, and challenge audiences; to nurture creators; and to build and support a broad, diverse, and inclusive community.

What it reported doing in 2024

The mission of Goodspeed Musicals is to share the joy of musical theatre; to delight, inspire, and challenge audiences; to nurture creators; and to build and support a broad, diverse, and inclusive community. Goodspeed, the Home of the American Musical, is committed to the ongoing work of developing new musicals and supporting the artists who create them. Our long history of producing new works and our approach to new musical development is tried and true. Goodspeed's annual producing seasons take place January-December. Every year, we produce new musicals and reimagined classics at our namesake venue The Goodspeed Opera House, an intimate 398-seat Victorian style theatre that is listed on the State's historic registry. The Norma Terris Theatre, located in the neighboring town of Chester, is Goodspeed's second stage and a destination for supporting the development of new musicals. During the 2024 season, Goodspeed produced the following programs: - Goodspeed's 18th annual Festival of News Musicals took place in January. Festival attendees enjoyed three days of activities including staged readings of new musicals (including the first public presentation of our GoodWorks commission "THE SNOW GOOSE") and seminars featuring our industry's leading artists and arts administrators. - The Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Grove took place in January and February. 38 writers/creatives convened on the Goodspeed campus to work on 19 unique musical theatre projects. - Goodspeed welcomed more than 100,000 patrons to 363 performances of 7 shows at The Goodspeed and the Terris Theatre: "THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD" (4/5/24-6/2/24), "SOUTH PACIFIC" (6/14/24-8/11/24), "MAGGIE" (8/2 3/24-10/20/24), and "A CHRISTMAS STORY" (11/1/24-12/29/24) played at the Goodspeed, and developmental productions of "A COMPLICATED WOMAN" (5/10/24-6/2/24), "ASK FOR THE MOON" (7/19/24-8/11/24), and "NO LOVE SONGS" (9/27/24-10/20/24) performed at the Terris. - The Arts Education Collaboration program provided theatre education activities and tickets to Goodspeed productions for 1,539 elementary, middle, and high-school students - a 103% increase over 2023!

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: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 87%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.24 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: NotApplicable
    • 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: -9.1%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.07; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.9%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.2% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 87% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $13.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $250K · 35 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $289K reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.