Rhizome Dc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
473844095
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2024687842
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$503,752
Expenses
$335,150
Assets
$969,733
Liabilities
$205,368

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Steven Korn (President, Trustee)

Highest reported compensation

  • Layne Garrett (Director, Trustee): $46,013 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Supporting and showcasing the arts

What it reported doing in 2025

Educational programs. Youth programs in literature, painting, philosophy, multimedia arts, writing; 7 weeks of summer camps serving 80 children total; weekly classes serving upwards of 10 children each week. Adult or all-ages workshops on: textiles, meditation, poetry, DIY electronics, philosophy, musicology, puppetry; ~180 events serving over 3,900 people (online and in-person).

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 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63.9%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 94.8%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Limited
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 33.5%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.89; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.7%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 29.2% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 55.6% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 63.9% of revenue deployed · 94.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $318K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $46K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.