Kickstand Comedy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
832360557
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
5037195685
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$662,127
Expenses
$622,003
Assets
$491,097
Liabilities
$215,279

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DOUGLASS MATTHEW (PRESIDENT)
  • STEIN PAUL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEIN PAUL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $8,275 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Enriching lives of performers and audiences via the genre of comedy and the comedic arts. We work to remove barriers, create equity, and provide opportunities for performance, education and laughter through dynamic shows and community outreach.

What it reported doing in 2024

During the 2024-2025 fiscal year, kickstand comedy focused on refining operational roles while shifting strategies to support program sustainability. Kickstand maintained high engagement with diverse audiences, providing low-barrier co-produced events to attract producers, performers, students, and guests typically excluded by cost barriers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 77% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 79.9%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.53 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 51; 51st 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.1%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.79; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.44; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.3%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 40.2% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 32.2% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 37.6% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75% of revenue deployed · 79.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $497K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $8K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 51/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.