North Carolina Arts Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
463987880
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Raleigh, NC, USA
Phone
9194120751
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,774,499
Expenses
$1,878,632
Assets
$992,573
Liabilities
$188

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • John Willingham (President)
  • Wayne Martin (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Wayne Martin (Executive Director): $120,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Foundation's mission is to bring private and public sector partners into collaborations that extend the benefits of the arts to residents across the state. As North Carolina emerges from the pandemic, a top priority is to find resources for arts initiatives that benefit youth.

What it reported doing in 2024

Assistance to Western North Carolina: Relief related to the devastation that occurred in Western North Carolina from Hurricane Helene in the fall of 2024. The Foundation received and distributed funding to affected artists and non-profit arts organizations in twenty-six western counties through the NC Arts Disaster Relief Fund

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 83% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.7%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 90.3%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 64.3%; rating input score 64; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 23rd 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: Fail
    • 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: -5.9%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.53; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.4%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 23% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.7% of revenue deployed · 90.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $120K · 13 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $120K reported
  • Consistency: 17 of 18 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.