Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

What it reported doing in 2024

Since the grand opening in 2011, the kauffman center, in collaboration with its resident organizations: Kansas city ballet, Kansas city symphony and lyric opera of Kansas city, along with numerous other community arts organizations, have continued to bring excellent performing arts experiences to the Kansas city area. (continued on schedule o) the 2024-2025 performance season was a robust and filled with programming which led to a diverse and impactful season. In addition to the rao and cao performances, new and former audiences were brought to the venue through kauffman center presents with performing arts experiences ranging from family programming like bluey's big play, beloved singers such as amy grant and natalia lafourcade, and inspired musicians such as vitamin string quartet and drumline live. - 709 on-stage performances & special events in fiscal 2025 - 408,143 patrons attended performances & special events in fiscal 2025 the kauffman center is dedicated to creating unprecedented access to arts experiences for young people and underserved audiences in the Kansas city metropolitan area. The kauffman center's community engagement programs contain many avenues that connect local youth and families to high quality arts experiences. The kauffman center presented three school matinees in spring of 2025 with 2,158 students and educators attending. Each year, student matinees are also hosted through our partner organizations (Kansas city ballet, Kansas city symphony, lyric opera of Kansas city, and storling dance theater - the culture house). Since grand opening, more than 440,000 students have experienced school matinees on our stage and nearly half of which were brought to the kauffman center with financial support from our transportation fund which provides bus assistance. The kauffman center held its 12th annual future stages festival on the afternoon of sunday, june 15, 2025. More than 682 youth from 31 youth performance groups, of which 42% were made up primarily of young minority performing artists, performed on stage for more than 2,900 family, friends and supporters in attendance. Twenty community partner organizations participated. 20% of survey participants indicated it was their first time visiting the kauffman center and 97% of survey participants indicated they would recommend this event to a friend. In fy25, 1,118 community tickets were extended to schools, social service agencies and nonprofit organizations in our community to youth and families that might not otherwise have an opportunity to experience world-class performing arts. Kauffman center offered additional student programs including building tours and field trips, internships and shadowing. They also use unique local collaborations, such as yoga at the kauffman center presented by saint luke's, to broaden the offerings and attract diverse patrons to visit the building. Kauffman center's commitment to serving everyone in the community is evident in the wide range of free or low-cost programming, including offering low-cost school matinees and the popular trailblazing talks speaker series - part of kauffman center presents.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 84.1%; rating input score 84
• Fundraising efficiency: $6.58 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Pass
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • 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: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -41.6%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.96; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 5.3%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -2.6% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -1.2% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings