Paper Mill Playhouse

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
221550515
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Millburn, NJ, USA
Phone
9733793636
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Theater

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$31,356,415
Expenses
$28,173,069
Assets
$60,409,575
Liabilities
$22,037,979

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

Leadership & pay

39 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL STOTTS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL STOTTS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $384,449 total reported compensation
  • MARK S HOEBEE (Artistic Director): $382,644 total reported compensation
  • LAURA GREEN (DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION): $184,142 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Mission paper mill playhouse entertains, inspires, and enriches lives. As the nation's premier musical theater, we foster a creative environment to advance the art form, educate students, develop future theater lovers, nurture inclusion, and provide access for all. Vision the vision of paper mill playhouse is to be internationally recognized as the leading musical theater where new and reimagined musicals and innovative education programs are cultivated. Paper mill playhouse is the place where artists, theater lovers, and students come together to realize their creativity and to be inspired by the theater's unmatched passion and commitment to excellence.

What it reported doing in 2024

Paper Mill Playhouse has been a cherished New Jersey arts institution for 86 years, with a national reputation that continues to grow. As a producing theater, Paper Mill's collaboration with other regional theaters and leading independent producers brings audiences the best in musical theater, from celebrated revivals to groundbreaking new works. Education and outreach programs nurture young people's creativity and empathy. Paper Mill brings decades of leadership in cultural access and is at the forefront of autism-friendly theater. Paper Mill Playhouse received the 2016 Regional Theatre Tony Award in recognition of its contribution to the national field. During the FY25 season, Paper Mill produced new productions of "Jersey Boys", "White ChristmasDisney's "The Little Mermaid" which all played to near capacity audiences. The season also included the popular new musical "Mystic Pizza", and the world premiere of "Take the Lead". Several new marketing and program initiatives introduced new, younger and more diverse audiences to Paper Mill throughout the season. During this season, the Paper Mill production of The Great Gatsby continued to run on Broadway and opened in London's West End. In October 2024, Paper Mill launched the public phase of the Next Act Campaign, a $43.7 Million capital campaign to renovate Paper Mill's facilities and grounds. The campaign will fund a multi-phased renovation project that will include a more welcoming lobby and front-of-house experience for patrons, an expansion of our Carriage House restaurant, and necessary back-of-house and campus-wide improvements. Construction on the back-of-house phase began in the spring of 2024. Paper Mill is still recovering from the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic. The company has experienced a significant increase in expenses, and a decline in the subscriber audience base and associated revenues, since re-opening in 2021.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 66% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 91
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.8%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 81.5%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.97 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.2%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.14; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.36; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.8%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.8% of revenue deployed · 81.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 32 of 32 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $22.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $384K · 39 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2M reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.