Tioga Arts Council
Legal name: Tioga County Council on the Arts Inc Tioga Arts Council
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 161086123
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2023–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-T 2020
- Location
- Owego, NY, US
- Phone
- 6076870785
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts Council/Agency
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $228,251
- Expenses
- $231,448
- Assets
- $187,387
- Liabilities
- $410
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DARRYL LINDSAY (Vice President)
- NADINE BIGSBY (President)
Highest reported compensation
- CHRISTINA DI STEFANO (Executive Dir.): $52,296 total reported compensation
- T BENJAMIN HOBBS (Director): $8,568 total reported compensation
- MICHAEL POE (Treasurer): $4,800 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Tioga Arts Council’s programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR CREATIVE COMMUNITY SUPPORTERS.
What it reported doing in 2024
Artist grant navigation: tac is the fiscal sponsor for artist grant navigation, a free program that educates artists about the grant ecosystem, connecting them to grant opportunities in New York state. This program has supported artist grants that resulted in over $71,413, 23 workshops on grant specifics, two networking events, and 7,860 minutes of free one-on-one office hours to-date.concerts in the park: each year tcaa hosts its annual, free six-part summer concert series. These concerts are held in hickories park. The event supports over 60 musicians and serves over 1,500 visitors in person, and over 1,000 more virtually.art a la cart: each summer, tac curates and delivers five free weekly arts-enrichment activities for approximately 120 youth who attend summer meal sites, libraries, and community centers throughout tioga county.creative symposium series: the creative symposium series is a free, six part series in which creatives of all disciplines and at every stage of their career can engage in artistic dialogue, explore ways to grow in their craft, support professional growth, and cultivate a sense of community and camaraderie. This year we paid 7 artists to offer free instruction for 60 artists related to: publishing your creative work, plein art painting demos, and demystifying the jurying process for different art exhibitions. Art shop/retail: tac has a specialty retail store offering an array of artists'materials and creative supplies, artisan goods, and curated space to showcase and sell artists' work year-round.rural youth outreach: with financial support from the tioga county youth bureau, tcaa paid three artist educators to facilitate three free arts enrichment sessions at libraries and community centers in apalachin, newark valley, and nichols.memory maker project: tac hired the memory maker project to bring free arts-enrichment activities to 50 clients at assisted living facilities and some suffering from memory loss in owego and waverly, ny. An exhibit of their work was held at the local tourism center.residencies: for several years, tac has hosted a poet in residence program, wherein a poet from outside the area is invited to owego, receives an honorarium and an opportunity to work in a premier location-often away from restrictions and pressures of their everyday lives. It also allows the local community to connect with a new creative vision and voice. The poet also is provided free accomodations for them and their family at the cloud croft studios barn apartment with the ccs schoolhouse available for studio and instructional use.free art packs: in partnership with local educators and cops for a cause, tac curates and delivers a pack of free art supplies to 24 youth who show artistic promise, but do not have the means to access or afford supplies.artist studio rental: tac's artist studio rental program provides below-marketrental studio space for emerging visual artists, performing artists, and writers in tioga county, ny. In addition to semi-private studio spaces, there is shared common space with other creatives, providing opportunities for collaboration, skill sharing, and selling work at a premier location in downtown owego. The studios extend the gallery spaces of the main tac gallery below during public openings.artfully squared: artfully squared is an annual, crowd-sourced exhibition. Creatives of all ages and all media create and donate small artworks to display and sell in the gallery. All proceeds benefit tac mission programs. This is an experience where artists to make their work affordable for everyone.june exhibition: if you keep a star in a cage was an experimental and performance-based exhibition at cloud croft studios in 2025. It medidated on themes of pop culture, womanhood, and surveillance in the early 21st century. It served 8 artists, 4 musicians, and 200 visitors.
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 88% 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 84
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 35
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 86.7%; rating input score 87
- Program expense ratio: 85.4%; rating input score 85
- Fundraising efficiency: $30.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -1.4%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.81; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 29.8%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 86.7% of revenue deployed · 85.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $198K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $52K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.