Unison Learning Center Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
222134692
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2017
Location
New Paltz, NY, USA
Phone
8452551559
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Performing Arts Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$197,329
Expenses
$164,134
Assets
$198,653
Liabilities
$105,970

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARIA ELENA FERRER-HARRINGTON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • MATTHEW FRIDAY (PRESIDENT)
  • RICHARD WEBB (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARIA ELENA FERRER-HARRINGTON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $52,080 total reported compensation
  • MATTHEW FRIDAY (PRESIDENT): $1,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Unison arts is a vibrant community arts hub that provides transformative, accessible arts experiences for people of all ages and backgrounds. Through artist-led programs, exhibitions, and educational opportunities, unison fosters inclusive, collaborative, and experiential learning while connecting artists and communities at its historic site in the cultural heart of the hudson valley.

What it reported doing in 2025

Workshops and classes- unison offered a dynamic range of creative and personal development programs throughout the year: -life drawing sessions provided artists of all skill levels the opportunity to work with professional models in a safe, welcoming, and non-instructional environmentideal for honing individual practice and creative exploration. -improvisational comedy encouraged participants to cultivate presence, spontaneity, and awareness both on stage and in everyday life. -art spark: visual storytelling, held weekly in partnership with the ulster county sheriffs office, engaged justice-involved individuals in creative expression. -during the summer, wild clay offered free, hands-on activities for participants of all ages. -additional seasonal workshops included intro to woodcarving, introduction to watercolor, chinese brush painting, layering light, and re/make: collage with everyday plastics. Many of these programs were offered free of charge or on a sliding scale.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 61% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% 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 - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 81
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 57.1%; rating input score 57
  • Program expense ratio: 68.6%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd 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; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16.8%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.21; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.53; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 32.3%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 57.1% of revenue deployed · 68.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $113K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $52K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.