The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Legal name: John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 530245017
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2024168000
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Performing Arts Centers
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $516,578,163
- Expenses
- $306,297,976
- Assets
- $901,012,370
- Liabilities
- $122,873,623
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
122 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- AMB RICHARD GRENELL (PRESIDENT (AS OF 02/25))
- MS DEBORAH F RUTTER (PRESIDENT (THRU 02/25))
- MS JEAN M DAVIDSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NSO)
- MS KIMBERLY J COOPER (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING & SALES)
- MS LATA'SHA M BOWENS (VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES (AS OF 02/25))
- MR MARC B JOSEPH (VICE PRESIDENT AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, SOCIAL IMPACT (THRU 04/25))
Highest reported compensation
- MS DEBORAH F RUTTER (PRESIDENT (THRU 02/25)): $1,407,965 total reported compensation
- MS STACEY B JOHNSON (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER (THRU 02/25)): $502,114 total reported compensation
- MS JEAN M DAVIDSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NSO): $498,743 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Kennedy Center is the nation's cultural center and living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. It presents a rich variety of performances, events, series, and festivals, and offers education programs and resources for communities around the country.
What it reported doing in 2024
The john f. Kennedy center for the performing arts is america's performing arts facility, annually hosting 1,700 performances and events for visitors totaling 1.0 million people, with televised productions, events and broadcasts reaching 75 million more. The organization (a) produces and presents music, theater, dance, comedy, and other art; (b) supports artists in the creation of new works; and (c) serves as the nation's cultural center and leader in arts education. Additionally, the organization is a living memorial to the late president john f. Kennedy and receives visitors from every state and countries around the world to learn about his vision and legacy for the arts, his life and his presidency.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 61% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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
SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some related-organization disclosures are missing.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 66
- Transparency & Controls: 77
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 81
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 53%; rating input score 53
- Program expense ratio: 87.9%; rating input score 88
- Fundraising efficiency: $24.68 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Limited
- Conducts field audits: Limited
- May suspend future funding: Limited
- Requires financial reports: Limited
- Conducts site visits: Limited
- Requires grant agreements: Limited
- May require repayment: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 97.1%; rating input score 97; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: No; rating input score 0
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 40.7%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.94; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.8%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 53% of revenue deployed · 87.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 58 of 58 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $269.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $1.4M · 122 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $25.9M reported
- Consistency: 43 of 46 current checks pass · 3 findings to review
- Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 36 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 21 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.