Shakespeare & Company Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042666826
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Lenox, MA, USA
Phone
4136371199
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Theater

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,297,486
Expenses
$5,363,730
Assets
$14,725,184
Liabilities
$767,090

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

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • SUSANNAH GOREY (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $120,193 total reported compensation
  • BELTON ALLYN BURROWS (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $115,362 total reported compensation
  • KEVIN COLEMAN (FOUNDING TRUSTEE/DIR. OF EDUCATION): $58,441 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of shakespeare & company is to deliver a sustainable and vital program of performance, training, and education, integrated for the deepened experience of the artists, the audience, the company, and the community. (continued on schedule o) we embrace the core values of shakespeare's work: collaboration, commitment to language, visceral experience and classical ideals, expressed with physical prowess and an embodied contemporary voice.

What it reported doing in 2025

Education: fiscal year 2026 consisted of many education programs. Fall festival of shakespeare, a 10 week in-school residency in ten schools with public performances in the schools and on our campus. Northeast regional tour of shakespeare, a 4 month northeast tour of in-school performances of non-equity production of a shakespeare play. Shakespeare in the courts project, in collaboration with the berkshire junvenile court abjudicated juvenile offenders work with artists and participate in classes, rehearsals and performances of shakespeare scenes. Riotous youth, summer acting camp for children and teens that introduce them to the language, story, characters and ideas in the shakespeare plays. Residencies, local and (continued on schedule o) non-local in-school programs with teams of teachers, directors and technical staff working in collaboration with educators to introduce students to shakespeare. Shakespeare & young company, designed to further develop young actors and empower them as creative individuals. Professional development workshops, for teachers and teaching artists, one-week workshops held in the summer to help create shakespeare learning on stage and in classrooms.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 70% 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 most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 73
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 47.8%; rating input score 48
  • Program expense ratio: 81.7%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 21st 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: 92%; rating input score 92; 23rd 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: 42.3%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.75; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.8%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.7% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 47.8% of revenue deployed · 81.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 25 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $120K · 30 people listed
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 48/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 59/100.