Synergy Theater
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 384116407
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2020–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2019
- Location
- Martinez, CA, USA
- Phone
- 9254088540
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Performing Arts Centers
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $156,778
- Expenses
- $140,149
- Assets
- $40,884
- Liabilities
- $2,282
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Kenn Adams (President)
People named in this filing
- Kenn Adams (President)
- Nikki Vilas (Treasurer)
- Karen Adams (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
Our mission is to build a better world through improvisational theater. We strive to do this in three different ways. First, by performing our shows. With each performance, we invite our community to come together and celebrate its common humanity through laughter, insight and understanding. Second, by teaching improvisation to others. In our renowned School of Improvisation, we foster the collaborative philosophy unique to our form of art. And finally, by reaching out to the next generation. Our ongoing theater enrichment programs in schools and libraries offer our kids the invaluable life skills, such as teamwork, acceptance, and cooperation, that are inherent to the practice of all live theater and especially to improvisation.
What it reported doing in 2025
To provide the general public with high-quality, low-cost, professional improvisational theater and to improve its community by promoting the collaborative and cooperative tenets of improvisational theater. It will achieve this by producing professional improvisational theater, teaching improvisational theater classes, and maintaining an active youth outreach program including performances and classes for children.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent revenue detail to tell how this nonprofit funds its work.
- 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. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 91
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Sustainability: 37
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 87%; rating input score 87
- Program expense ratio: 97.3%; rating input score 97
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 10.6%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.29; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 55.1%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 28.6% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 87% of revenue deployed · 97.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $136K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
- Schedules: 2 filed schedules
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.