The Playwrights' Center Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 416170139
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- St Paul, MN, USA
- Phone
- 6123327481
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Theater
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,208,092
- Expenses
- $3,202,470
- Assets
- $14,849,721
- Liabilities
- $11,146,369
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
20 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MICHAEL WINN (BOARD PRESIDENT)
- JANE ZILCH (BOARD VICE PRESIDENT)
- ELIZABETH EMERY (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- ROBERT CHELIMSKY (MANAGING DIRECTOR): $163,080 total reported compensation
- NICOLE WATSON (PRODUCTION ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $113,323 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 playwrights' center champions playwrights and new plays to build upon a living theater that demands new and innovative works. The center focuses on both supporting playwrights and promoting new plays to production at theaters across the country.
What it reported doing in 2024
Made possible by the mcknight, jerome, and tides foundations, fellowships provide approximately $365,000 each year for residencies, commissions, health anv living stipends, and development funds. Through these fellowships, the playwrights' center functions as a home for : two Minnesota-based mcknight fellows in playwriting: one nationally-based mcknight national residency and commission fellow, three mcknight theater artist fellows, four nationally-based jerome fellowships for emerging playwrights; two many voices fellows of color (one Minnesota-based); two Minnesota-based many voices mentees, and three venturous playwright fellows each receive an award of $50,000 over two years, as well as a production subsidy grant of up to $50,000 to support a production of the play at a theater of the playwright's choosing. Throughout their two-year fellowships, the playwrights are in residence at the playwrights' center where they have access to an individually-tailored lineup of new play development and advocacy resources.
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 89% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 81
- Transparency & Controls: 68
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 31
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 73.5%; rating input score 73
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.53 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- 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: 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: NotApplicable
- 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: -165.1%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.64; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.75; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.6%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 73.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $163K · 20 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- 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: 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.