Orange County Arts Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
861597342
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Hillsborough, NC, USA
Phone
9194095799
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Reported finances

Revenue
$284,548
Expenses
$277,217
Assets
$150,992
Liabilities
$50,406

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kathryn Murray (Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • Gail Cooley (Board Member)
  • Mary Parry (Board Member)
  • Fred Joiner (Board Member)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of the Orange County Arts Alliance is to expand the capacity of the Orange County Arts Commission, as together, they create, develop, and grow the arts of Orange County, North Carolina.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Arts Alliance continued its third full year of programming the Eno Arts Mill. Revenues reflect income from classes, events, and gallery sales; expenses reflect payments to teaching artists, gallery payments to artists for work sold, and volunteer expenses. Grants received supported free programs for historically underrepresented communities, including the 2024 Eno Arts Mill BIPOC Artist-in-Residence Grant; Studio Be, providing small group art-making experiences for underrepresented youth ages 13-17; and, our LGBTQ Teens Arts Collective. A grant from the Town of Hillsborough supported First Fridays at the Mill, a monthly free celebration at the Eno Arts Mill featuring art, live music, art-making, and community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 87% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 81
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.8%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 70.6%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

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: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 2.6%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.54; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.33; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 25.2% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 31.7% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.6% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.8% of revenue deployed · 70.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $196K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 10/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.