Shakespeare Play on Santa Cruz Shakespeare

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
464635444
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2020
Location
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
Phone
8314606396
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,668,319
Expenses
$2,708,901
Assets
$2,805,677
Liabilities
$92,736

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Chris Frost (President)
  • Mary Anne Carson (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Lorne Dechtenberg (Managing Dir.): $108,011 total reported compensation
  • Charles Pasternak (Artistic Dir.): $105,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Inspired by Shakespeare, we create and strengthen our community by bringing audiences and theatre artists together to celebrate stories about our collective humanity. Matching a fearless aesthetic with transparent financial responsibility, SCS is passionate about theatre.

What it reported doing in 2024

Santa Cruz Shakespeare's outdoor theatre festival is a treasured 42-year tradition in the county, attracting multi-generational theatergoers to a shared experience of exceptional theatre that provides a canvas to explore, question, and celebrate the political, social, and human condition. In 2024 we presented a three-play summer festival, and we added our first ever fall production, as well as our first winter production. We also continued our partnership with UCSC's humanities institute and the Shakespeare workshop, presenting "Undiscovered Shakespeare and Weekend with Shakespeare." As a free educational resource, SCS also developed online study guides and lesson plans on several Shakespeare plays accessible to educators and students throughout the region and the country.

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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 83.5%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -1.5%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.04; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.9%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86% of revenue deployed · 83.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $108K · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.