Upfront Theatre

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
861337799
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Bellingham, WA, USA
Phone
3602008697
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Theater

Reported finances

Revenue
$220,517
Expenses
$213,321
Assets
$107,488
Liabilities
$8,203

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SAMANTHA JOLLY (Executive Director)
  • ALIVE LEDBETTER (Vice President)
  • HAYDEN LEMASTER (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • SAMANTHA JOLLY (Executive Director): $4,659 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To entertain, educate and connect our community through the art of improvisation and the gift of play.

What it reported doing in 2024

Workshops: Using a fun, creatively developed curriculum, The Upfront Theatre helps companies and organizations establish a yes, and culture where people are connected, say yes, listen, support one another, and make each other look good. These workshops teach individuals how to be stronger, positive communicators, say yes, adapt in the moment, have confidence, and strengthen interpersonal skills.Workshops are custom tailored for businesses, organizations and corporations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 93% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.5%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 68.8%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.3%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.5; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.2%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.2% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 33.1% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 31.6% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.5% of revenue deployed · 68.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $147K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $5K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.