National Independent Venue Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
852436574
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2153077462
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Music

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$604,753
Expenses
$574,717
Assets
$1,008,012
Liabilities
$100,627

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Laura Wilson (President)
  • Tobi Parks (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Laura Wilson (President)
  • Tobi Parks (Vice President)
  • Annie Brinn (Treasurer)

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

The mission of the national independent venue foundation (nivf) is to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent live performance venues and promoters throughout the united states by supporting a transparent, competitive marketplace serving a diverse and inclusive community of artists, fans, and industry workers.

What it reported doing in 2024

Workforce development: creating and sharing resources for independent venues and promoters, and supporting community engagement and education efforts remain core to the foundation's mission. Nivf has delivered over 45 free virtual workforce development sessions serving 5,000+ registered attendees representing live entertainment organizations. To date, the venue operations experience (vox) has supported 63 participants through certification, mentorship, and paid internships; in 2025, 86% of cohort members secured employment in live entertainment. The nivf training hub served 3,700+ users, and 3,600 job seekers and employers utilized the independent venue job board. In partnership with the drake business innovation hub at drake university's zimpleman college of business, nivf launched a state funding resource database, which received 2,200+ visits since launch.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 47% for direct work, and 53% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.8%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 79.8%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $52.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 68.5%; rating input score 68; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.75; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -48.2% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -56.6% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -5.5% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.8% of revenue deployed · 79.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $459K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $171K reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 9 filed related-organization links
  • 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: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.