The Center for Cartoon Studies
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 412071791
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- White River Jct, VT, USA
- Phone
- 8022953319
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Undergraduate College (4-year)
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,237,363
- Expenses
- $1,219,790
- Assets
- $2,748,243
- Liabilities
- $245,208
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MICHELLE OLLIE (CCS, PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- JAMES STURM (CCS, DIRECTOR): $124,715 total reported compensation
- MICHELLE OLLIE (CCS, PRESIDENT): $120,910 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Ccs is dedicated to providing the highest quality of education to students interested in creating visual stories. Ccs's curriculum of art, graphic design, and literature reflect the wide array of skills needed to create comics and graphic novels. Ccs emphasizes self-publishing and prepares its students to publish, market, and disseminate their work. Ccs, recognizing the central role that socially responsible businesses can play in a community, will initiate and be responsive to innovative ways to improve the local cultural and economic quality of life.
What it reported doing in 2024
Comic art education
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 79% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most filed governance safeguards are in place. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 59
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 83
- Sustainability: 46
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 64%; rating input score 64
- Program expense ratio: 68.4%; rating input score 68
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th 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; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 15th 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: 1.4%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.25; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 20.1%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 64% of revenue deployed · 68.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $835K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $125K · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.