The Baum School of Art

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
231607174
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Allentown, PA, USA
Phone
6104330032
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,816,710
Expenses
$1,658,585
Assets
$9,594,493
Liabilities
$1,104,495

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JANET GROSS (PRESIDENT)
  • STEVEN ZELENKOFSKE (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • SHANNON FUGATE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SHANNON FUGATE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $111,959 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 baum school of art's mission is enriching lives through arts education. The baum school of art is a community school dedicated to providing instruction, guidance and encouragement for children, teens, and adults to reach their highest level of technical, physical, spiritual, creative and emotional potential through the study of visual arts. The school values the diverstiy of its population, including but not limited to gender, creed, social status or race. The mission is deeply rooted in service to the community.

What it reported doing in 2024

The baum school of art served a total of 4,404 students in 2024-2025 through over 300 classes in drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture, jewelry and metalsmithing, fashion design, graphic design, illustration, pastels, and others, with 3,729 student participating on-site and 675 students off-site. The school reached a total of 1,946 lehigh valley residents through outreach programs, scholarships, and financial assistance. In addition to its educational programs, the baum school of art's david e. Rodale and rodale family galleries hold several galley exhibitions throughout the year and feature regional, national, and international artists, as well as student work and juried exhibitions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 74% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 79% for direct work, and 21% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 48
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 81
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 32%; rating input score 32
  • Program expense ratio: 70.9%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $22.3 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd 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: 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: 8 of 8 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: 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: 56.5%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.78; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.8%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.7% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 32% of revenue deployed · 70.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $112K · 23 people listed
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.