Montford Park Players
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237427417
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
- Location
- Asheville, NC, USA
- Phone
- 8282545146
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $216,056
- Expenses
- $234,191
- Assets
- $160,273
- Liabilities
- $29,750
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- John Russell (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- John Russell (Executive Director): $63,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
OUR MISSION: Asheville's Montford Park Players performs Shakespeare and other theatre works for the enrichment, education, and enjoyment of our audiences, free of charge. OUR VISION: Our vision is that people from all backgrounds feel welcome at our theatre. OUR VALUES: Embrace principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in all that we do. Foster a sense of community and belonging. Participate as an integral part of the local theatre community. Offer high quality experiences at every level of interaction with our company. Lead with respect and courage in all communications. Serve as an educational resource and exemplar of Shakespeare theatre, outdoor performance venue, and free attendance model.
What it reported doing in 2024
MPP presented nine outdoor theatrical productions in 2024 with total audience of 6,129, all free to the public. Visitors provided total economic impact to Asheville and Buncombe County of $992,823. MPP had the distinction of producing the entire Shakespeare Wars of the Roses Cycle, including Edward III, in one season, the first theatre in the world to do so.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 84
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 24
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 97.1%; rating input score 97
- Program expense ratio: 89.6%; rating input score 90
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 19th 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -8.4%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.68; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 26.9%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 97.1% of revenue deployed · 89.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $210K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $63K · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 41 of 42 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2014 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.