The Braid

Legal name: Jewish Women's Theatre

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474157778
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Santa Monica, CA, US
Phone
(310) 263-8277
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Theater
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$944,738
Expenses
$942,982
Assets
$735,073
Liabilities
$206,880

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • RONDA SPINAK (DIRECTOR/ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $85,180 total reported compensation
  • SHARON LANDAU (DIRECTOR/MANAGING DIRECTOR): $81,847 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To empower artists and audiences to feel pride in Jewish culture while building community and connection between people of all backgrounds.

What it reported doing in 2024

The braid brings jewish stories to life to celebrate diverse jewish culture, embrace shared humanity, and combat antisemitism. With over 80 acclaimed productions and partnerships with 265+ organizations, the braid performs live and virtually across los angeles and beyond, reaching audiences in all 50 states and 40 countries. Now the nation's largest independent jewish theatre, its hit shows include not that jewish (200 off-broadway performances), stories from the violins of hope (presented at the un) and true colors (spotlighting jews of color). The braid also engages communities through workshops, speaker series, and digital initiatives amplifying a living legacy of jewish life.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 64% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.5%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 85.1%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.51 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: 0.2%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.78; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.7%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 12 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 85.5% of revenue deployed · 85.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 14 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $803K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $85K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.