Real Art Ways Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
060958072
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Hartford, CT, USA
Phone
8602321006
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,785,620
Expenses
$1,861,262
Assets
$10,052,683
Liabilities
$3,358,817

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHN A WILKINS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOHN A WILKINS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $159,128 total reported compensation
  • PATRICIA H WENZ (DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR (THRU AUG 2025)): $122,681 total reported compensation
  • ERIC D ORT (CAPITAL CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR): $110,228 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Real art ways is an alternative multidisciplinary arts organization that presents and supports contemporary artists and their work, facilitates the creation of new work, and creatively engages, builds, and informs audiences and communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education: our education programs introduce students to new ideas, and provide young people with hands-on opportunities for creativity.education programs include: film field trips: more than 2,000 students per year visit real art ways to watch superb films, including documentaries on the civil rights movement, with an emphasis on how young people have made an impact in our society. Students participate in a discussion about youth leadership and involvement. Park art, our summer arts program, provides free-of-charge art-making workshops, led by practicing artists, for children who live in our working class parkville neighborhood. Real apprentices employs an area high school student in paid positions. They become valued staff members, and gain their first experience working in a professional environment. Eye on video: fifteen area high school students, each paid a weekly stipend, learn how to make film and video projects in an intensive, summer-long program. With exhibitions, films, public art projects, concerts, performances, readings, education programs, and a welcoming space where people gather before and after events, real art ways is a nexus for people of widely varying backgrounds and interests to explore art and ideas and build a stronger cultural community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 63% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 53.4%; rating input score 53
  • Program expense ratio: 76.1%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • 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: Scored; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 33.2%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.4; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.33; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.4%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.2% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 53.4% of revenue deployed · 76.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $159K · 12 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $265K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.