Theatre for a New Audience Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133059081
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2122292819
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Theater

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,723,662
Expenses
$8,743,309
Assets
$20,801,747
Liabilities
$3,134,437

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

Leadership & pay

39 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JEFFREY HOROWITZ (Pres/AD/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • JEFFREY HOROWITZ (Pres/AD/CEO): $566,607 total reported compensation
  • DOROTHY RYAN-LEITCH (Exec Dir/VP): $220,446 total reported compensation
  • JAMES LYNES (DIR OF INSTL ADVAN): $162,548 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

As a New York home for Shakespeare and other contemporary playwrights, the author is at the heart of our mission. Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA) creates a dialogue between the language and ideas of Shakespeare and diverse authors, past and present, exploring the ever-changing forms of world theatre and expanding what is considered canonical. We build long-term associations with artists from around the world and support their development through productions, commissions, and residencies.

What it reported doing in 2024

THE THEATRES 2024-2025 ARTISTIC SEASONIn 2024-2025, the Theatre celebrated its 46th Season with four thrilling productions: the World Premiere of Ethan Liptons We Are Your Robots, directed by Leigh Silverman and co-produced with Rattlestick Theater; William Shakespeares Henry IV, adapted by Dakin Matthews into one three-act play, directed by Eric Tucker; the Off-Broadway Premiere of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinkas The Swamp Dwellers, directed by Awoye Timpo; and the World Premiere of Taylor Macs Prosperous Fools, directed by Darko Tresnjak and starring Mac. In addition, the Theatres 2022 production of The Merchant of Venice, directed by Arin Arbus and featuring John Douglas Thompson as Shylock, toured to the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh. Overall in the 2024-2025 Season, the Theatres productions and programs served a diverse audience of nearly 21,000 people in the New York region and over 14,000 in Edinburgh.ARTS IN EDUCATIONIn the 2024-2025 Season, the Theatre continued its nearly four-decade-long partnership with the New York City Department of Education by providing its two 10-week arts in education programsWorld Theatre Project (WTP) and New Voices Project (NVP) to students and teachers throughout New York City. The programs served 1,184 students and 83 teachers in 55 classrooms at 13 New York City Public Schools.ACCESS, ENGAGEMENT AND HUMANITIESThe Theatre is dedicated to providing access to a broad and diverse audience through a variety of low-cost ticket initiatives. the Theatre offers open-captioned performances for the deaf and hard of hearing at one weekend performance per production.The Theatre invites audiences of all ages to engage with the language and ideas of the Theatres productions through its free Humanities Programs. In the 2024-2025 Season, the Theatre engaged 1,196 people with 14 TFANA Talks post-show discussions with the productions casts, creative teams, and eminent scholars. These included four New Deal Night talkbacks for young audiences, and community affinity nights including Africa Night, Black Theatre Night, and Pride Night, which were each followed by a free post-show celebration. For each mainstage production, the Theatres online dramaturgical publication and digital program the 360 Viewfinder offered context on the plays themes and interviews with the creative teams. The four 360 Viewfinders for the 2024-2025 Season were read online 16,289 times.THE STUDIOThrough the Merle Debuskey Studio program, the Theatre offered Reasons to Go Places, a free two-day directing seminar for 12 early-career directors, led by Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher. Project in development in the 2024-2025 Season included workshops for the World Premiere of Prosperous Fools by Taylor Mac and for a new production of Shakespeares Coriolanus directed by Ash Tata.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 62% 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

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: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 81.1%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.74 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: 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: -30%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.38; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.2%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -6.3% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 81.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 30 of 36 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $7.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $567K · 39 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.