Arena Stage

Legal name: Washington Drama Society Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
530246894
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Washington, DC, US
Phone
202-488-3300
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Theater

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$28,220,542
Expenses
$30,028,570
Assets
$123,193,521
Liabilities
$6,356,041

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

Leadership & pay

49 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • EDGAR DOBIE (PRESIDENT/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)

Highest reported compensation

  • EDGAR DOBIE (PRESIDENT/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER): $605,976 total reported compensation
  • HANA SHARIF (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $476,057 total reported compensation
  • SHONALI BURKE (CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER (TO 6/2024)): $185,659 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Arena Stage is the voice of American theater produced through a multitude of voices in our productions and community engagement programs to inspire people to action. We produce all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, entertaining, deep and dangerous in the American spirit.

What it reported doing in 2024

The 2024-2025 season marked hana s. Sharif's second year as artistic director of arena stage. Founded in 1950, arena stage is the voice of american theater resident in our nation's capital. We produce all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, entertaining, deep and dangerous in the american spirit. Arena produced and presented ten shows, including six world premieres, while continuing to provide robust community engagement programs. The season included: jaja's african hair braiding (kreeger theater) by jocelyn bioh, directed by whitney white; the other americans (fichandler stage), written by & starring john leguizamo, directed by ruben santiago-hudson; data (kogod cradle) by matthew libby, directed by margot bordelon; death on the nile (kreeger theater) by agatha christie adapted for the stage by ken ludwig, directed by hana s. Sharif; step afrika!'s magical musical holiday step show (fichandler stage) by step afrika!; sarah silverman's the bedwetter book by joshua harmon & sarah silverman, music by adam schlesinger, lyrics by adam schlesinger & sarah silverman, based upon the bedwetter: stories of courage, redemption, and pee by sarah silverman, additional music & lyrics by david yazbek, directed by anne kauffman (by special arrangement with tom kirdahy and barry and fran weissler); the age of innocence (fichandler stage) by edith wharton adapted for the stage by karen zacaras, directed by hana s. Sharif; fake it until you make it (kreeger theater) (co-production with center theatre group) by larissa fasthorse, directed by michael john garcs; we are gathered (fichandler stage) by tarell alvin mccraney, directed by kent gash; a wrinkle in time (kreeger theater) book by lauren yee music and lyrics by heather christian, based on the novel written by madeleine l'engle, directed by lee sunday evans (by special arrangement with plate spinner productions and diana dimenna, aaron glick, and charlotte jones voiklis).we continued supporting our next generation of artists and creators with camp arena stage and the allen lee hughes fellowship program. Camp arena stage served 303 campers and 8 season-long fellowships were completed.the dc ticket partnership offers deeply discounted tickets to dc public school students. This season we partnered with partnered with 34 teachers at 26 schools representing all dc wards. Arena stage teaching artists lead pre- and post-show workshops and extensive study guides are prepared for the students.arena continued voices of now (von), an internationally recognized, devised theater program where ensembles of middle-school, high-school, and adult artists work together to create autobiographical plays. Arena continues to work with schools in dc and fairfax county, as well as community-based ensembles including a decades-long partnership with the wendt center for loss and healing.

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 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

SUPPORTED - 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: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.2%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 86%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • 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: 95.1%; rating input score 95; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.4%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.1; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.7%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.7% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -4.7% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 94.2% of revenue deployed · 86% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 39 of 41 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $25.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $606K · 49 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.5M reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D expense reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.