Seaba

What it reported doing in 2025

The south end arts and business association was able to expand art programming in 2025 and make strategic moves to grow the organization by acquiring a new location at the end of the year. The non-profit organization is mainly supported through event registration and sponsorships, related to the annual south end art hop, which welcomes thousands of visitors to the south end arts district of burlington, Vermont each september. The event is family friendly and free to attend taking place along a 1.5 mile stretch. In september of 2025 we were fortunate enough to have great engagement and attendance for the three day festival which allowed approximately 20,000 people to enjoy outdoor events including an artist market, a "kids hop" interactive program for families taking place at an established farmers market; a 1/3 of a mile street closure during the evening for visitors to spread out safely; gorgeous light shows and interactive pieces on historic buildings each night, and a program of 125 locations; including artist studios, businesses, and restaurants to visit and support. In addition to the south end art hop, 2025 brought the sixth year of the seaba artist residency, in which one artist is awarded a year long art studio rental free of charge. The large industrial studio space is sponsored by unsworth properties, who own a full block of buildings in the south end that host local artist spaces and small businesses. The seaba art curation program has grow, with hundreds of artists showing work in historic buildings up to 10 pieces each, each quarter, year-round. Our website assures that potential art buyers can shop from homes or on location by scanning a qr code on the label of each piece of art. The curation program features every piece of artwork on the seaba website and has continued to be a successful way for people to support the arts. A collaboration has continued with generator makespace, in which one artist is awarded a small studio and membership for a quarter and hosts an art show at the end of their residency. 2025 also expanded on the 'strut' fashion show, in which 15 designers of all ages, skills, and abilities showcased their clothing on up to five models each. The production was professional with staging, lighting, sound, and video and welcomed 300 guests to a sold out crowd. The year ended with acquiring a new rental for our office that measures 7,000 square feet and has enough room to build out a year-round art gallery for our members, a performing arts venue with a stage, and a third room for private event rentals and indoor artist markets. Our non-profit is now poised to support the growing south end arts district of burlington, vt for years to come.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 92.7%; rating input score 93
• Program expense ratio: 98.8%; rating input score 99
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Fail
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 6.2%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.18; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.44; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 33.6%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 36.4% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings