Marshall High Studios
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 331441160
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Mars Hill, NC, USA
- Phone
- 8286490177
- Rating
- 62
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts Service Organizations and Activities
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,518,690
- Expenses
- $219,260
- Assets
- $2,311,345
- Liabilities
- $11,915
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Anne Rawson (Vice-Chair): $36,765 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To maintain a facility that supports accomplished, creative, diverse individuals, organizations and small businesses in Madison County and western North Carolina.
What it reported doing in 2025
Restoration and renovation of donated facility heavily damaged by Hurricane Helene floodwaters.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 96% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 37
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 84
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 5.8%; rating input score 6
- Program expense ratio: 66.5%; rating input score 67
- Fundraising efficiency: $2,386.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 99; 99th 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: 91.3%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.54; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 16.8%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 5.8% of revenue deployed · 66.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $146K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $37K · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 6/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.