Open Arts Alliance

Legal name: Open Arts Alliance Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
453220208
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Greenwich, CT, US
Phone
2039124880
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Patient Services - Entertainment, Recreation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$435,833
Expenses
$320,898
Assets
$624,439
Liabilities
$80,089

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Rocco Natale (Executive Dir.): $3,846 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 use an intentional blend of arts education and community engagement to turn artists into members of a wider community, teaching students vital life skills through performance, community service, and leadership.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community Outreach - Open Arts Alliance engages our community through our four signature programs: Senior Arts Education, Student Leadership Councils, In-school residencies and Development projects. Open Arts proudly pioneers therapeutic music and drama programs for senior citizens that use principles and practices of the performing arts to bring music and laughter to health-care facilities, assisted living communities and community centers, making theatre accessible for all, particularly those struggling with dementia, Alzheimer's disease or limited physical mobility. These programs are driven by suggestions and vision from the Leadership Councils. The Open Arts Alliance Leadership Council is composed of students in grades 8-12. Leaders are developed through the council with the aim of mentoring new and younger students in the organization, aiding in organizing tasks, program development, parent and student outreach, social media and philanthropic endeavors. In-school residencies are designed to be conducted in public and private schools for 6-8 weeks. Professional teaching artists teach 50-60 students in grades 3-5 and a full-scale musical is presented to the learning community at the end of the residency. Open Arts Alliance actively engages theatre arts professionals by offering financial and creative support to develop new projects. These programs impact over 4,500 community members each year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 72% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59.7%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 84.3%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 26.4%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.95; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.2%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.5% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 29.2% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 59.7% of revenue deployed · 84.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $270K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $4K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.