The Barrow Group Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133411791
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2127602615
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,431,512
Expenses
$3,750,408
Assets
$9,949,411
Liabilities
$7,236,496

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ROBERT SERRELL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ROBERT SERRELL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $255,178 total reported compensation
  • SETH BARRISH (CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $139,679 total reported compensation
  • LEE BROCK (CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $120,025 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The barrow group is an award-winning theatre company and training center located in the heart of New York city. Our mission is to combine spontaneous acting with well-crafted stories that address social, spiritual and political issues, and enrich our community with greater understanding of ourselves, others, and the world around us. Founded in 1986, the barrow group is committed to creating compelling and relevant stories that inspire empathy, build community, and help to create a more tolerant and open-minded society. The company's artistic vision and supporting curriculum encourages these values by utilizing a theatrical style that strips away at the artifice of performance, resulting in deeply moving and impactful performances.

What it reported doing in 2024

Since 1986, the barrow group (tbg) has enriched the lives of thousands of artists and patrons through our theatre productions, developmental readings, and performing arts training program. Several of the shows tbg has developed and/or produced in New York city have gone on to perform nationally and internationally, including martin moran's "the tricky part and "all the rage", stefanie zadravec's "honey brown eyes", jon maran's "old wicked songs", and mike birbiglia's "sleepwalk with me". Alumni of our training program have received academy, emmy, tony, obie, and lucille lortel awards. Tbg has received a drama desk award for off-off-broadway excellence. With our f.a.b. Women developmental group, our diversity scholarship program, and our focus on sharing diverse voices in our mainstage production programming, we are committed to inclusive theatrical and educational offerings.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 91% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.6%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 82.8%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -9.3%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.65; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.73; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.4%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.7% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 88.6% of revenue deployed · 82.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $255K · 16 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $497K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.