The National Theatre Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521014217
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2027833370
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Performing Arts Centers

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,575,362
Expenses
$1,921,424
Assets
$7,546,637
Liabilities
$724,351

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BERYL JOLLY (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (AS OF 6/2024))

Highest reported compensation

  • BERYL JOLLY (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (AS OF 6/2024)): $124,821 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 national theatre foundation oversees and preserves one of america's most iconic theatres toward an innovative and inclusive future. While serving as the primary home for broadway in our nation's capital, the foundation also presents compelling educational and community programs, maintains and preserves the theatre's historic archive, and is responsible for facility improvements and services.

What it reported doing in 2024

Ntf works with the nederlander organization to program the main stage season. The 24/25 season included 20 productions, mainly touring broadway productions. In addition to main stage programming, ntf presents free community engagement programs that include "saturday morning live!", "community stage connections", and "teens behind the scenes". In fiscal year 2025, "saturday morning live!" presented 9 productions onsite with local partners to engage and inspire children aged 3-6 years old and their families. These programs are free for the audiences and held at 9:30 and 11 am on select saturdays, primarily in the helen hayes lounge at the national theatre.the "community stage connections" program pays a roster of local artists to perform at community organizations for those individuals who face barriers to performance arts experiences. Venues include senior citizen centers and children's national hospital. These performances are free for the audiences. In fiscal year 2025, ntf hosted 80 performances. "teens behind the scenes" welcomed students to attend performances in the broadway at the national season and participate in a post-show talkback with a dramaturg. Students participated for free and received a study guide created by the dramaturg. In fiscal year 2025, ntf welcomed students to 13 shows. Interviews with guests from the productions were conducted in person at the post-show talkback and virtually to provide students with insights into theatre industry careers. In addition to these three main programs, ntf also developed a new partnership with dc public library, which saw artists from seven "saturday morning live!" programs make additional appearances at library branches around the city. As with "saturday morning live!" these programs are free and open to the public. Ntf also continued "afterwords," a new series of talkbacks following select mainstage performances. Finally, ntf continued processing the collection in the national theatre archive throughout fiscal year 2025.

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.
  • 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 44
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 73
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 43.1%; rating input score 43
  • Program expense ratio: 58.7%; rating input score 59
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 5; 5th 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: 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: 25.4%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.93; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.5%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.8% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 43.1% of revenue deployed · 58.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $125K · 19 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2009 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 43/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 59/100.