Theater Breaking Through Barriers Corp

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133193376
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2122434337
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Eye Diseases, Blindness and Vision Impairments

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$462,469
Expenses
$395,137
Assets
$309,537
Liabilities
$42,796

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Nicholas Viselli (Director/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Nicholas Viselli (Director/CEO): $76,442 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Theater Breaking Through Barriers (TBTB) is NYCs only Off-Broadway theater organization dedicated to advancing artists and developing audiences of people with disabilities, and altering the misperceptions surrounding disability by proving, once and for all, that disability does not affect the quality or integrity of our art or artists. We believe that through artistic excellence and the development of role models, we can claim at last for the full inclusion of people with disabilities in our society.

What it reported doing in 2024

Although TBTB opted to forego a full MainStage production during our 2024/2025 season so we could focus on building our administrative infrastructure with the hiring of a full-time Development Manager, Sad Powell, we were extremely pleased to present two public events, which showcased the talents of our artists, while providing free entertainment to our audiences. In March 2025, TBTB partnered with The Signature Theater during their world premiere of Samuel D. Hunters latest play, GRANGEVILLE by presenting a Monday evening play reading series featuring four of Mr. Hunters other plays: A GREAT WILDERNESS, CLARKSTON, THE HARVEST, AND THE HEALING. The series was titled, HUNTER IN FOUR and was presented at Signatures Ford Foundation Studio. All readings were free to the public and featured over 27 artists, 70% of whom were performers with disabilities. All readings were open captioned and featured a question and answer talk-back, which followed each performance. From April 28 through May 4th, TBTB presented our 3rd Hybrid Playmakers Intensive, HPI3: DRAMAPHEMERA, which featured 12 original short plays, all written by and for our artists and performed live for both online and in-person audiences. Our Playmakers Intensive program is unique in that it allows us to gather a group of writers, directors, and actors, randomly pair them together into groups, and charge each group to create an original play. Six of the plays, written to be performed online via ZOOM, were presented (1 play each evening with 2 live performances) from April 28 through May 3rd. On May 4th, the final six plays were presented live before a studio audience of 75 people at Clinton Cameo Studios, 307 W. 43rd Street, NYC. These plays were also recorded and shown online to our virtual audiences from June 16 - 21. All performances featured live stream and open captioning as well as post-show discussions and audio description, when necessary. In both projects, all artists received financial compensation for their time and talents.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% 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.
  • 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: 45
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 44.7%; rating input score 45
  • Program expense ratio: 52.3%; rating input score 52
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 26th 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: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 24th 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: 14.6%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.78; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 44.7% of revenue deployed · 52.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $207K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $76K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 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 45/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 52/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 34/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.