The Taproot Theatre

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
910971237
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2067819705
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Theater

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,071,476
Expenses
$4,383,793
Assets
$5,658,775
Liabilities
$2,714,931

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • KAREN LUND (PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $133,658 total reported compensation
  • JOE AZEGAMI-HYER (FINANCE MANAGER): $33,442 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Taproot theatre company tells stories of hope, serving the pacific northwest through live theatre and educational programs. Taproot theatre values faith, respects people, and celebrates theatre.

What it reported doing in 2025

Taproot is dedicated to creating quality art that unites people through the unique power of live storytelling and the relationships that we build and nurture. Strategically located as one of the largest theatres outside seattle's downtown arts corridor, taproot strives to become the theatre of choice for north seattle/northwest king county. Taproot generates a shared sense of community of hope for both audiences and artists with stories that amplify the hope, courage, self-sacrifice, love and redemption in our world. Since resuming live in-person productions on the mainstage in november 2021 after an 18-month delay brought on by the pandemic, taproot has produced a gamut of productions ranging from classical drama to modern comedy to regional premiere musicals, all sharing the common theme of hope.making theatre is very different today than it was before the pandemic, but we adapt and adjust continually to try to get it right. It's worth it. We believe that stories, beautifully realized by a skilled artistic team, have the power to move people, inspiring them towards empathy, community, grace, growth, and love of neighbor.taproot theatre company performed 5 productions in its mainstage season, plus 1 productions in the isaac studio, and the mainstage holiday production. Total attendance exceeded 42,000 for the productions.

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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.5%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 80.5%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd 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: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7.7%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.29; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.48; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 88.5% of revenue deployed · 80.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 14 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $3.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $134K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.