Scenarios USA Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
134117469
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2015
Forms available
Form 990 2015
Location
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Phone
7182305125
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Film, Video

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$477,899
Expenses
$837,236
Assets
$263,199
Liabilities
$72,621

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Maura Minsky (Executive Direc): $79,846 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Founded in 1999, Scenarios USA is a national non-profit organization that uses writing and film to foster youth leadership, advocacy and self-expression in students across the country with a focus on marginalized populations and underserved communities. We are built on the belief that by valuing youth and listening to their opinions, we can promote healthy relationships and empower a new generation of engaged citizens.

What it reported doing in 2015

1. Scenarios USA continued following our strategic plan with three goals: 1) Program Expansion for Greater Impact 2) Greater Financial Sustainability, and 3) Increased Visibility through Communication. In FY 15-16, Scenarios USA was ahead of the curve in social awareness with our first film featuring a transgender character; House Not Home, directed by Joshua Butler. Butlers penetration in social media allowed Scenarios to increase its visibility, deepen our film programs reach, and added 1 board member. Scenarios experienced a 200% increase in visitors to the website and 7% increase in first-time visitors from the previous year. 2. Scenarios USA hosted our 12th REAL DEAL curriculum and writing contest in 2015-16 school year. Students responded to the question, Whats the REAL DEAL about Love and Solidarity? This cycle engaged over 200 educators, representing over 150 schools, and engaged over 5,000 students in New York City and Cleveland, OH in the REAL DEAL curriculum. As a final project, students wrote a narrative in response to the question and submitted it to our REAL DEAL writing contest. Over 700 volunteers across the country read nearly 200 student submissions. The winning scripts were Split Persona (Cleveland, OH) and Cut In Half (NYC, NY). In the winter of 2015, Scenarios USA filmed Split Persona, our 26th REAL DEAL film. 3. Scenarios USA invested heavily in its alumni in 2015. Our alumni became interns at NBCUniversal, obtained scholarships at USC & NYC School of Visual Arts. Our alumni presented and spoke at the Healthy Teen Network, NAMLE, & YTH conferences, public schools in Cleveland and New York, and various community events. Scenarios alumni spoke about Scenarios films and talked about issues that impacted their community and questioned the communitys awareness on various topics that touched on various social justice issues.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 72% 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.

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 13
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 73.4%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.24 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: -75.2%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.31; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.5%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.5% per year; rating input score 0; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 73.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $615K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $80K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2011 to 2015
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.