The Actors Company Theatre Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133672065
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2017
Forms available
Form 990 2017
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2126458228
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Theater

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$507,641
Expenses
$583,296
Assets
$10,621
Liabilities
$70,099

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHELE GEIST (Board President)

Highest reported compensation

  • SCOTT ALAN EVANS (Officer): $74,104 total reported compensation
  • JONATHAN WEBER (Officer): $50,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Actors Company Theatre is dedicated to presenting neglected or rarely produced plays of literary merit, with a focus on creating theatre from its essence: the text and the actor's ability to bring it to life. Over the past eighteen seasons and more than 90 productions, we have grown to become a true ensemble: a group that has developed a common vocabulary and a technique based on our artistic vision and collective body of work. Our actors and directors are committed to TACT because of the artistic opportunities it offers: creative challenges, professional growth, and the chance to work on great plays that deserve to be seen more often in New York City.

What it reported doing in 2017

Mainstage. The centerpiece of our programming is to present, twice yearly, neglected works of literary merit to New York City area audiences. The focus of these productions is placed on the text and the actor, and on exploring the script in an in-depth way in an intimate space. Casting is mainly sourced from the company of actors. Additionally, we strive to breakdown barriers between audience members and our artists. Salon Series. The original concept of the company was rooted in the staged reading which we initially called Concert Performances and has, over the years, transformed into our current Salon Series. The Salon Series allows us to present a broader range of work as these script-in-hand presentations are not reliant on production values or salaries. The Salons offer an intimate theatrical experience for our subscribers where company members are highly accessible both on stage in the intimate TACT Studio, and as ushers and greeters. This close contact often inspires lasting relationships between our artists and audience. newTACTics. A development program for new work which culminates in an annual festival each June. The mission is centered on developing new work for the theatre. newTACTics utilizes an open-submission process. Plays selected are given in-house table readings before the selection of the finalist for the festival. Four new works are chosen for inclusion in the festival which is presented at the TACT Studio. The festival is free to the public. Every performance is followed by a talk-back with the playwrights, directors and casts.Young Leadership Initiative: Apprentice Company is a development pipeline for students of the theatre who would like to pursue careers in the arts and to learn more about how a theatre company is run and managed. Apprentices focus on various concentrations: general management, production, development, dramaturgy, marketing, and audience relations. Guest lectures from industry professionals are scheduled weekly to expose the apprentice company to a variety of expert opinions and best-practices. The apprentice company is encouraged to observe TACT auditions and rehearsals as well as to attend performances. Other outreach; For the past 15 years TACT has conducted summer workshops for the students of the TRiO Upward Bound program at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania. These workshops, which utilize physical & vocal exercises, improvisation, and theatre games to promote expression, communication and group building, have varied in size and scope over the years from single-day to multiple-day events. In the years that TACT also performed in the area, students would attend our rehearsals or performances. Co-Artistic Director Scott Alan Evans runs the workshops along with various members of the company. The TACT Academy was an educational program geared to middle and high school aged students. Lack of enrollment and a dedicated staff made the continuation of this program untenable for the time being.The company structure is at the heart of why we continue to produce. An invested and committed company is an increasing rarity in New York theatre. TACT is committed to the continued success of its company members and fosters a true artistic home through free studio space, casting opportunities and the ability to transition to other creative avenues. A proud example is Co-Artistic Director Jenn Thompson. She joined the company as an actor and because of the company and the companys commitment and investment in her talents shes been able to grow into a successful, working director in the city and regionally. The investment in company members to perform or explore artistic avenues is integral to TACTs purpose.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 71% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The required major-donor schedule is missing or incomplete and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 75
  • Sustainability: 6
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 79.2%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.69 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: No; rating input score 0
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -14.9%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.02; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 6.6; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.3%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.4% per year; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -30.4% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91% of revenue deployed · 79.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $462K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $74K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2011 to 2017
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Major donor itemization scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.