Newton Cultural Alliance Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
270590276
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
West Newton, MA, USA
Phone
6173324300
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Arts Council/Agency

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$414,182
Expenses
$678,191
Assets
$5,486,836
Liabilities
$2,521,464

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LAUREL FARNSWORTH (CO-PRESIDENT)
  • BARBARA LIETZKE (CO-PRESIDENT)
  • LAURA CRARY (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ADRIENNE HARTZELL KNUDSEN (MANAGING DIRECTOR): $38,547 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Nca is a consortium of non-profit arts and cultural organizations dedicated to improving the quality of life in newton, ma by promoting arts and culture through programming and collaborative work.

What it reported doing in 2024

Furthered arts advocacy programming with a variety of media and collaborative organizational activities, met scheduled milestrones in the allen house restoration project and enhanced the completed section of the property for greater organizational and public use.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 84% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The program-spending lines do not add up, so the filing cannot show reliably whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 75.7%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $23.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -63.7%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.09; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.46; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.7%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.9% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.1% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 75.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $514K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $39K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.