Open Hearts Art Center Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
270087282
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Asheville, NC, USA
Phone
8285058428
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Arts Education

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,106,381
Expenses
$1,123,890
Assets
$694,064
Liabilities
$8,845

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CONNIE FALCONE (PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR)
  • BRENDA SINNERS (VICE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SONIA PITTS (DIRECTOR): $88,735 total reported compensation
  • JESSIE FRANCIS (TREASURER AND DIRECTOR): $84,945 total reported compensation
  • DEBBIE HARRIS (SECRETARY AND DIRECTOR): $65,037 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Open hearts art center is supportive studio and art gallery dedicated to representing and empowering adults with varied abilities to connect to and reach their potential through the arts

What it reported doing in 2025

Provided a habilitative day program environment in person and via telehealth for approximately 51 individuals living with intellectual and developmental and developmental disabilities to work on set goals for the accomplishment of independence. These set goals included but are not limited to their social, physical, and intrapersonal well being. In this environment, visual, performance, multi-dimensional, and linguistical arts classes are held 5 days a week, 6 hours a day, approximately 248 days of the year. Open hearts is the only program in the community that provides college level arts classes at a pace designed for this population.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 80% 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

STRONG - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 65
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.3%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 93.7%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 17th 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: Pass
    • 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: -1.6%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.62; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.2%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 94.3% of revenue deployed · 93.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $89K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 58/100.