Life Arts Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
812927648
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2022
Forms available
Form 990 2022
Location
Saint Louis, MO, USA
Phone
3144988014
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts Education

Reported finances

Revenue
$83,656
Expenses
$83,273
Assets
$454,248
Liabilities
$228,625

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR RICHARD SHAW (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • DR RICHARD SHAW (PRESIDENT)
  • DAN LESTER (DIRECTOR)
  • SANDRA PORTER MARKS (DIRECTOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Developing the leaders of today, where they live, using the arts.

What it reported doing in 2022

Ap for life: ap for life is an arts residency program that empowers a cohort of creatives with the financial, entrepreneurial, artistic, and social leadership skills and platforms necessary to enrich culture, communities, and their personal purpose.participants were granted a $1,000 stipend for creative empowerment and $250 for an investment stipend to combat lack of access while generating wealth. Likewise, participants were tasked with meeting with a financial advisor, generating a creative project, mentoring and helping life arts programming, and service to the community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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.

The verdict

STRONG - 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99.4%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 99.8%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.5%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.45; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.5; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -31.5% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -28.6% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 99.4% of revenue deployed · 99.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $83K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 16 of 16 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2019 to 2022
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.