Mclean Project for the Arts

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521374407
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Mclean, VA, USA
Phone
7037901953
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,532,027
Expenses
$1,040,468
Assets
$5,747,969
Liabilities
$1,552,963

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

Leadership & pay

37 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LORI CARBONNEAU (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • LORI CARBONNEAU (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $75,880 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Mclean project forthe arts (mpa) is a leading contemporary visual arts non-profit organization dedicated to connecting art and community. Our community is rooted in the mid-atlantic region; our mission is to serve artists and the public by exhibiting the work of emergingand established artists, fostering theunderstanding of contemporary art, and offering art education and instruction for people of all ages and potentials.

What it reported doing in 2024

4.artreach: mpa's central outreach program extends arts education into the community, focusing resources on individuals and groups with limited opportunity to visit a gallery or engage with working artists. Artreach centers on mpa's gallery exhibitions, offering artist-educator tours and hands-on activities which demonstrate art principles and incorporate concepts of the Virginia standards of learning (sols). Mpa's award-winning artreach program is free and serves approximately 3,000 individuals annually. Mpa invests funds purposefully to engage students from title i schools, teens and young adults from under-resourced communities, and individuals from senior centers and community disability programs. Mpa offers free bus service to our galleries to all title i school participants. The mpa service area extends from dc's shaw neighborhood to the southernmost areas of fairfax county, including arlington and falls church. Through our virtual programming and the distribution to community partners of our educational activity flyers tied to our exhibitions, our artreach program offers extraordinary access to underserved communities. Mpa's partnership with servicesource, second story, and best buddies continues to grow and mpa continues to reach out to and engage new veteran communities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% 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

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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 42
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 79
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 21.5%; rating input score 22
  • Program expense ratio: 70.5%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $20.17 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th 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: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 70.5%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.52; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.3%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.6% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 21.5% of revenue deployed · 70.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 36 of 36 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $733K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $76K · 37 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $171K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 22/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.