Make-believe Association
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 822958552
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2017–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2024
- Location
- Chicago, IL, USA
- Phone
- 8478816482
- Rating
- 91
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Performing Arts Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $89,170
- Expenses
- $120,362
- Assets
- $66,728
- Liabilities
- $290
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Jeremy McCarter (President)
People named in this filing
- Jeremy McCarter (President)
- Andrea Wishom (Board Chair / Treasurer)
- Roderick Branch (Secretary)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To produce high quality dramatic performances for the benefit and education of listening audiences.
What it reported doing in 2024
Successfully completing production on an ambitious and innovative new audio adaptation of "Hamlet".
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. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 96
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 22
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 88.2%; rating input score 88
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -35%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.55; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.5%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -12.3% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -1.6% per year; rating input score 0; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 88.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $106K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.