Sole Defined
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 464154399
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2023–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
- Location
- Capitol Heights, MD, USA
- Phone
- 4436532476
- Rating
- 54
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts Education
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $357,546
- Expenses
- $256,527
- Assets
- $160,472
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Ryan K Johnson (Executive Artistic Director): $47,217 total reported compensation
- Quynn L Johnson (Director of Arts Education): $47,217 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
SOLE Defined's mission is to preserve and advance percussive dance, including tap dance and body percussion, through evening-length performances that serve as archives of American history. Additionally, it aims to integrate the arts into the curriculum for K12 students as a tool for learning mathematics and literacy.
What it reported doing in 2024
Performance & Cultural Preservation SOLE Defined produces evening length theatrical performances that blend percussive dance, live music, and storytelling. These productions are designed not only to entertain but also to serve as living archives that celebrate and document the contributions of African American artists and the cultural legacy of percussive dance forms in the United States. Performances are offered in communities nationwide and often include post-show discussions to deepen audience engagement and education. Arts-Integrated Education Programming K12 SOLE Defined delivers school-based and community educational programs that use percussive dance as a vehicle for academic learning. Through arts-integrated residencies, workshops, and curriculum-aligned instruction, the organization teaches core subjects such as mathematics and literacy using rhythm, movement, and interactive performance. This approach supports student engagement, kinesthetic learning, and creative expression in schools that often lack access to the performing arts.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 74% 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
MIXED - 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 18
- Transparency & Controls: 89
- Accountability: 62
- Sustainability: 57
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 17.6%; rating input score 18
- Program expense ratio: 24.5%; rating input score 25
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 5th 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: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- 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: Fail
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 28.3%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.63; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 36.8%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 200% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 32.5% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 56.4% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 17.6% of revenue deployed · 24.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $63K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $47K · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 14 of 15 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 2 filed schedules
- Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 18/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 25/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.