Overture Center for the Arts

What it reported doing in 2024

Overture center hosts over 700 events with our box office selling approximately 365,000 tickets annually. Overture center presents a diverse mix of performances, including broadway, national tours, cabaret, lectures, comedy, concerts, dance and local arts performances. Overture center is the performance home to nine local, nonprofit resident arts companies who annually sell over 100,000 tickets to their performances and receive rental subsidies and some shared services from overture to support their work. Overture center fulfills the core of its mission through fourteen education and engagement programs to ensure extraordinary experiences in the arts are accessible to all. Nearly 190,000 people annually attend free/low-cost performances and exhibits or participate in its school-based programs. This represents 37% of the 500,000+ total annual artistic experiences. These programs include 'onstage student field trips' that provide nearly 18,000 prek-12 students with access to daytime performances at the center, 'kids in the rotunda' free families performances that serve 24,000 people and the jerrys, a high school musical excellence program that engages over 100 schools across the state. Over 3,300 artists perform or exhibit at overture, with 72% of these artists residing within dane county. The center also serves as a unique event venue for weddings, corporate events, and other public and private events.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 83%; rating input score 83
• Program expense ratio: 86.4%; rating input score 86
• Fundraising efficiency: $6.02 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Pass
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 5.2%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.96; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 4.8%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings