St Croix Falls Festival Theatre Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391663518
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
St Croix Falls, WI, USA
Phone
7154833387
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Theater

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$951,081
Expenses
$443,121
Assets
$636,818
Liabilities
$28,892

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Meg Luhrs (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Isaac Bont (Executive Dir.): $42,606 total reported compensation
  • Katheryn Cesarz - former (Executive Dir.): $34,081 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To make the performing arts welcoming to all people as an essential part of the well being of individuals and vitality of the community. St. Croix Festival theatre produces plays, presents concerts and provides arts education activities for youth and adults.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, Festival Theatre invited thousands of patrons to enjoy our five main stage shows, along with improv performances, a staged reading, music performances, and other special events. In the summer, we held theatre arts education camps for youth in Siren WI, Chisago City, and St. Croix Falls WI and saw 65 campers over the course of four weeks of camp. We employed theatre artists from across the country and locally. We engaged with our volunteer patrons who built friendships and community when they came to help out at one of the 5 show construction breakdown processes or to usher and serve at the cafe during one of our performances. We operated year round in the St. Croix Valley.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 84% 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

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 68
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 38.7%; rating input score 39
  • Program expense ratio: 82.5%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $20.7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 53.4%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.44; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.3%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 38.7% of revenue deployed · 82.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $365K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $43K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 39/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.