Santa Monica Theatre Guild

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
956045356
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Santa Monica, CA, USA
Phone
3108287519
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Theater

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$387,970
Expenses
$369,581
Assets
$488,879
Liabilities
$139,624

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL JACKSON-HEIMOS (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • WILLIAM WILDAY (MEMBER): $31,865 total reported compensation
  • EVE KELLER (VP-YES): $7,124 total reported compensation
  • EMILY WALKER (MEMBER): $1,200 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To educate, entertain, enrich and inspire those of all ages-engaging the community in live theatre experiences which reflect dramatic and cultural diversity.

What it reported doing in 2025

Produced plays/musical and a new works festival of new plays with adult actors, and some plays/musicals for your yes youth program with your actors ages 8 to 18 for the community at large. Provided training for youth actors in our youth workshops. Provided training and experience for over 400 actors and technicians, and cultural enrichment for over 10,000 community membersprovided rehearsal and performance facilities for educational and individual artists for dance, musical and dramatic performances, serving 400 artists and over 8,000 audience members.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 84% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 44
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 94.5%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 58.3%; rating input score 58; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.7%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.32; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.29; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.3%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90% of revenue deployed · 94.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 12 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $349K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $32K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 58/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.