Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 980367731
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Windsor, Nova Scotia, CA
- Phone
- 9027985841
- Rating
- 61
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Performing Arts Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,086,278
- Expenses
- $1,089,863
- Assets
- $2,766,490
- Liabilities
- $1,714,696
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
People named in this filing
- EDWARD MACDONALD (CHAIR)
- JON OULTON (VICE CHAIR)
- ALEX JURGENS (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. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To introduce family audiences at home and abroad to the excitement of innovative theatre and the performing arts; to serve as cultural ambassadors for nova scotia and for canada; to provide a touring showcase of atlantic canada's artists; to encourage literacy and the love of reading; to promote the art of puppetry through live rerformances as well as by means of instruction at all levels; to encourage creative self-expression among adolescents through the non professional youth theatre.
What it reported doing in 2024
The company conducted various performances like good night moon, runaway bunny and the rainbow fish by marcus pfister. These are performances with an innovative approach to puppetry manipulation and construction combined with playful original music for which the company earned worldwide praise.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 64% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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 most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 65
- Transparency & Controls: 52
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 48
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 73.6%; rating input score 74
- Program expense ratio: 73.4%; rating input score 73
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
- 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 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
- 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: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -0.3%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.54; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.62; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -1.7% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 12.2% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 73.6% of revenue deployed · 73.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 8 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $800K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 18 of 20 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
- 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Independent members within voting members did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.