Interlochen Center for the Arts

Legal name: Interlochen Arts Group

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
932002543
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Interlochen, MI, United States
Phone
800.681.5920
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Secondary, High School

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$61,389,743
Expenses
$68,335,984
Assets
$11,139,461
Liabilities
$12,529,377

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ARTHUR DEVEY (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ARTHUR DEVEY (PRESIDENT): $755,659 total reported compensation
  • JOHN BOGLEY (TRUSTEE): $493,692 total reported compensation
  • PATRICK KESSEL (TREASURER): $458,685 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Interlochen Center for the Arts is a vibrant sanctuary where students immerse themselves in music, theatre, creative writing, visual arts, dance, film, and interdisciplinary arts—all within an inspiring community that celebrates imagination.

What it reported doing in 2024

Interlochen arts academy, the nation's first and foremost boarding fine arts high school, unites students with others who value their highest aspirations, creating a close-knit artists' community. Over 500 of the world's most talented and motivated young artists study music, dance, theatre, visual arts, creative writing, interdisciplinary arts, film, and new media in a college-like setting. They find in the academy a fast-paced, creative environment that challenges, inspires, and focuses their talents. While producing more than 250 artistic presentations in the school year, academy students also master a rigorous college preparatory academic curriculum that prepares them to take prominent roles in a whole universe of professional endeavors. See schedule o for additional information.during the school year ended may 31, 2025, there were 584 students, 505 of whom received grants.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 80% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 70% for direct work, and 30% for grants.

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 few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 62
  • Accountability: 28
  • Sustainability: 9
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99.7%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 87.9%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11.3%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.16; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.12; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.5%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.8% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 99.7% of revenue deployed · 87.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $60M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $756K · 11 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $256K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.