The Aurora Theatre Company

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943168663
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Berkeley, CA, USA
Phone
5108434042
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Theater

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,405,397
Expenses
$1,940,742
Assets
$1,813,815
Liabilities
$331,701

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Robin Dolan (Managing Dir): $98,778 total reported compensation
  • Josh Costello (Artistic Dir): $97,778 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See Schedule O

What it reported doing in 2024

Auroras productions receive many accolades from audiences and critics, and have garnered many regional awards, including best of accolades in every major bay area daily newspaper. In 2012, sf weekly named aurora the best theatre company in its 2012 best of list. The wall street journal has nothing but praise for the aurora, while the contra costa times stated, perfection is probably an unattainable ideal in a medium as fluid as live performance, but the aurora theatre comes luminously close.originate+generate is aurora theatre companys new works initiative, including commissions, workshops, readings, and full productions of new plays. This incubator for forward-looking new work has seen tremendous growth since its inception in 2015. With a primary focus and investment in works generated by bay area artists, o+g

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.8%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 67.1%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.74 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th 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: 75%; rating input score 75; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -38.1%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.93; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.1%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -4.1% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.8% of revenue deployed · 67.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $99K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.