North Carolina Arts in Action Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
203029784
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Durham, NC, USA
Phone
9196190483
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Dance

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$760,014
Expenses
$1,112,668
Assets
$1,021,570
Liabilities
$14,191

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARLON TORRES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARLON TORRES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $163,361 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To help children develop critical life skills (leadership, discipline, creativity, tenacity) and a belief in themselves through performance based dance activities during the school day and after school.

What it reported doing in 2024

School residencies are the core of ncaia's programming. Through its in-school program, ncaia partners with area elementary schools to serve entire fourth-grade classes through 16 weeks of sequential arts instruction, using the internationally acclaimed teaching methodologies of the national dance institute. Each classroom receives one hour of instruction per ncaia session. Students' hard work culminates in a series of live performances for the school community, family, and friends.in the 2024-2025 school year, ncaia expanded from 14 to 20 schools, reaching nearly 1,800 children in 85 classrooms across wake, durham, orange, and chatham counties. This total includes participation in leap, ncaia's saturday program. Ncaia's dedicated team of 29 teachers, musicians, and staff also presented performances for more than 7,000 children, significantly broadening the organization's community impact.this year's theme, "it's elemental," focused on the four natural elementsfire, wind, earth, and wateras essential building blocks of our world. Guided by social studies and science curriculum standards, students explored how these elements shape daily life and help sustain the planet.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 66% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 87.8%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.07 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -46.4%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.92; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.7%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.3% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.8% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 87.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $977K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $163K · 13 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.