Highwire Improv Incorporated
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 853485640
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2023
- Location
- Baltimore, MD, USA
- Phone
- 3027456877
- Rating
- 71
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Performing Arts Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $228,372
- Expenses
- $231,497
- Assets
- $10,969
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Jessica Robey (Board Member, Instructor): $3,480 total reported compensation
- Kristen McKenzie (Board Treasurer, Instructor): $2,860 total reported compensation
- Brian Shea (Board VP, Instructor): $2,296 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Highwire Improv's mission is to steward a community of artists committed to growth, collaboration, joy, and justice in Baltimore and around the world through improvisational theater.
What it reported doing in 2025
Highwire Improv delivers improvisational workshops, classes, and training for organizations. These programs benefitted approximately 1200 individuals.
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.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 86
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Accountability: 16
- Sustainability: 29
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 97.8%; rating input score 98
- Program expense ratio: 96.5%; rating input score 96
- 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 38
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Limited
- 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: -1.4%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.05; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.7%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 79.2% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -24.9% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 97.8% of revenue deployed · 96.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 8 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $79K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $3K · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 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.
- High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.