Vanguard Theater Company

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
473543143
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2016, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Montclair, NJ, USA
Phone
8622053525
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,535,039
Expenses
$1,512,761
Assets
$544,318
Liabilities
$613,367

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MaryBeth Boger (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Janeece Freeman-Clark (Artistic Director): $55,276 total reported compensation
  • Cathi Flanagan (Acting Treas.): $30,088 total reported compensation
  • Terri Gorgone (Secretary): $13,800 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Vanguard Theater Company (VTC), founded by two Black artists, provides equitable opportunity, training, and access to theater artists and audiences. VTC is changing the narrative through theater dedicated to DREAM: Diversity, Reciprocity, Education, Activism and Mentorship. VTC creates a space for individuals of different racial and socio-economic backgrounds and life circumstances to address issues of social justice through theater.

What it reported doing in 2024

Summerstock, a 2-week residential camp is an intensive, by-audition, performing arts experience for serious musical theater students, ages 12-19, in residence at Camp in NJ. Students learn critical theater skills and life lessons. For many it is their first experience living and working outside of their socio-economic and demographic bubbles. For some, it is their first opportunity living in nature and engaging in traditional camp activities. The staff is led by professional actors and directors, and approximately 112 campers perform five fully produced shows in two weeks time. In addition to show rehearsals, campers take workshops in a variety of areas including: Songwriting, Shakespeare, Musical Theater Dance, Music Theory, Sight Reading and Character Analysis. Recreational activities such as: swimming, boating, archery, hiking, and nightly campfires, perfectly round out the camp experience.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 60% 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

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: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 85.3%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 12th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.5%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.36; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.13; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.6%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 23.2% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 24.4% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.2% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84% of revenue deployed · 85.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $55K · 18 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.