The Children's Theatre of Cincinnati

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
316026285
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Phone
5135698080
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Theater

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,354,850
Expenses
$4,660,134
Assets
$57,745,553
Liabilities
$2,304,194

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

Leadership & pay

39 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kim Kern (Managing Director & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Kim Kern (Managing Director & CEO): $193,031 total reported compensation
  • Roderick Justice (Artistic Director): $143,968 total reported compensation
  • Chad Stewart (CFO): $97,518 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 mission of The Children's Theatre of Cincinnati (TCT) is to educate, entertain and engage audiences of all ages through professional theatrical productions and arts education programming. Our vision is to awaken a lifelong love of theatre in children and the young at heart. Today, The Children's Theatre brings art to life for our audiences through three key programs, TCT MainStage at the Taft Theatre, TCT Academy, and TCT On Tour (including WorkShops). Each season we strive to reach over 200,000 people in our region.

What it reported doing in 2024

TCT On Tour brings the magic of live theatre directly to those who would otherwise be unable to experience it. We tour five productions each season, serving children of all ages with titles taken from classic literature, fairy tales, history, and other works studied in school curricula. This program reaches an additional 60,000 students annually. TCT On Tour productions are educational and entertaining, as well as affordable, for schools and other venues across the board geographic spectrum of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and beyond.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 61% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 52
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 85
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 39.8%; rating input score 40
  • Program expense ratio: 75.1%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.41 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: 55%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.39; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.3%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 22.6% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 25.1% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 39.8% of revenue deployed · 75.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 36 of 36 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $193K · 39 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $441K reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 40/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 47/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.