Steel City Improv Theater

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
841974011
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Phone
4124042695
Rating
54
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Performing Arts Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$215,164
Expenses
$239,842
Assets
$14,564
Liabilities
$10,062

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Rachel Wonderlin (Board President)
  • Kasey Daley (Former Executive Director)
  • Justin Zell (Interim Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Justin Zell (Interim Executive Director): $60,370 total reported compensation
  • Kasey Daley (Former Executive Director): $47,718 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To teach & advance the art of long-term improvisations & helping students embrace their natural gifts & develop the talents needed to perform professional level improv shows & to learn the lessons of Applied improv(using improvisations skills will improve & transform ones creativitiy & the relationships).

What it reported doing in 2023

To perform long form improv comedy on a weekly basis, where a group of improvisers take one suggestion from the audience and perform and entirely made-up show. complete with multiple scenes, characters & ridiculous spectacles, bounded by only its creators imagination. 184 shows were performed with an average attendance or 30 or 5,520 attendees in 2023. The cast for these shows were pulled from a pool of over 60 performers in various combinations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 89% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 47
  • Accountability: 49
  • Sustainability: 13
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.6%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 70%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11.5%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.06; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.69; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 45.1%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 49.8% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -66.8% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.6% of revenue deployed · 70% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $168K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 5 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.