Riverviews

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
541736664
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Lynchburg, VA, USA
Phone
4348477277
Rating
90
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts Service Organizations and Activities

Reported finances

Revenue
$137,306
Expenses
$339,003
Assets
$1,759,710
Liabilities
$48,354

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TIM SMITH (VICE PRESIDENT & INTERIM SECRETARY)
  • TRACEY LANGSETH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • TRACEY LANGSETH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $75,750 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Creating spaces where contemporary art inspires connection, sparks creativity, and fosters innovation.

What it reported doing in 2025

Riverviews artspace is central Virginia's home for contemporary art, where galleries, artist studios, and public programming converge to make ambitious contemporary work freely and broadly accessible to families, students, working artists, and the general public. In 2025, twelve exhibitions drew more than 1,659 gallery visitors and over 1,800 attendees to free and low-cost public events - including a sold-out public conversation with two-time caldecott medalist sophie blackall that brought families, readers, and collectors from across the region into the gallery. Working artist studios anchor a growing community of regional artists, providing affordable space and professional connection that strengthens the creative economy of central Virginia. The artist residency program deepens this work, supporting sustained studio practice and curatorial leadership from both established and emerging artists. Educational and community partnerships with lynchburg public library, james river day school, Virginia episcopal school, hill city montessori, randolph college, central Virginia community college, e.c. Glass high school, and the Virginia center for the creative arts extend riverviews' reach to children, students, working artists, and lifelong learners across the region. Through these activities, riverviews continues to position contemporary art as a catalyst for creativity, education, and community connection in lynchburg and beyond.

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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 96
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 94.3%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: $82.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 82; 82nd 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -146.9%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.19; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.3%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.9% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 94.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $320K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $76K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.