Imagination Stage of Washington Dc Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471851625
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
3019616060
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts Education

Reported finances

Revenue
$426,271
Expenses
$849,444
Assets
$48,504
Liabilities
$127,588

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • YASEMIN WASHINGTON (PRESIDENT)
  • RAQUEL CARSON (PRESIDENT ELECT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOANNE LAMPARTER (CHIEF ARTISTIC PROGRAMMING OFFICER): $133,242 total reported compensation
  • LAYNE HOLLEY AS OF NOV 2024 (CHIEF MANAGING OFFICER): $16,438 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Imagination stage of Washington, dc, inc. Empowers all young people to discover their voice and identity through performing arts education and professional theatre.

What it reported doing in 2024

Imagination stage, Washington dc's leading children's theatre organization, is dedicated to serving all children through innovative and artistically rigorous programming. The organization provides professional theatre productions free of charge across all 8 wards to 3,930 district of columbia public schools (dcps) and dc public charter school students, eliminating financial barriers to access.in addition to performances, imagination stage delivers in-school and outside-of-school-time arts education workshops and extended residencies that integrate theatre into classroom learning, as well as professional development for teachers to support arts-based instruction. Programs include theatre for change, which uses theatre and facilitated discussion to engage students in exploring social issues and strengthening communication, collaboration, and critical-thinking skills. Independent research has identified increases in english language skills and classroom attendance as positive impacts of the company's programming. Through these programs, imagination stage supports the social, emotional, and creative development of dc public school students, helping to cultivate compassionate, confident, and collaborative young people who are prepared to contribute positively to their families, schools, and communities.

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

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 77
  • Sustainability: 6
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 82.1%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th 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: 86.7%; rating input score 87; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -99.3%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.06; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 2.63; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 82.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 15 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $697K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $133K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.