The Austin Area Commission for the Arts Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411650727
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Austin, MN, USA
Phone
5074340934
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Federated Giving Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$655,332
Expenses
$296,912
Assets
$3,266,283
Liabilities
$722,645

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PENNY KINNEY (PRESIDENT)
  • RAE DAWN RAO (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • LAURA HELLE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - PART YEAR)
  • KELSEY RITCHIE (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • KELSEY RITCHIE (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $67,960 total reported compensation
  • LAURA HELLE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - PART YEAR): $19,760 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Austin area arts applauds and advances all arts by welcoming diverse, creative individuals to share their unique talents to inspire our community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Artworks festival - celebrate visual, performing and literary artists with a free two-day event in the heart of downtown austin. Event contributes to community quality of life and generates economic impact for local lodging, restaurants and retail. 6,600 visitors enjoyed 63 juried fine art exhibitors, 8 emerging art exhibitors, 12 hands-on art experiences, 11 music acts, 12 authors, 6 performing arts offerings. The event was supported by 69 individual donors, 33 business donors and 200+ volunteer shifts filled.

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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 50
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 30.6%; rating input score 31
  • Program expense ratio: 66.6%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1,470.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 98; 98th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 54.7%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 11; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 29.5%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4.8% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 30.6% of revenue deployed · 66.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $198K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $68K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 31/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.