Starts with Arts Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 454280714
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2024
- Location
- Tulsa, OK, USA
- Phone
- 6192284769
- Rating
- 59
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $103,100
- Expenses
- $9,630
- Assets
- $93,470
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DAVID VARELA (PRESIDENT)
- ANITRA PARISH (VICE PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- DAVID VARELA (PRESIDENT)
- ANITRA PARISH (VICE PRESIDENT)
- ADAM SALGADO (SECRETARY)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Starts with Arts Foundation's primary exempt purpose is to restore and expand access to arts education for under-resourced communities by providing free and low-cost creative learning opportunities, hands-on workshops, teacher and artist support, community art activities, and mobile arts programming. The organization focuses on youth and families with limited access to school-based arts education, after-school enrichment, transportation, and private art instruction. Through inclusive, community-centered programming, Starts with Arts uses creativity to build confidence, self-expression, problem-solving skills, cultural connection, and long-term educational engagement.
What it reported doing in 2025
Starts with Arts Foundation expanded access to arts education for under-resourced youth, families, and communities through free and low-cost creative learning opportunities, hands-on art workshops, community art activities, and preparation for ArtVanGo, the organization's mobile arts studio initiative. Program activities focused on restoring access to creative education for students and families who face barriers such as limited school-based arts programming, lack of transportation, cost, and limited access to private enrichment opportunities. Through inclusive and community-centered programming, SWAF supported creative expression, confidence, problem-solving, cultural connection, and educational engagement.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% 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 revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 43
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Sustainability: 92
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 9.3%; rating input score 9
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 90.7%; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.71; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 9.3% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $10K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
- Schedules: 1 filed schedules
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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 9/100.