Water Way Arts for Health and Energy Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
202332178
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2016
Forms available
Form 990 2016
Location
Brookline, MA, USA
Phone
6172272975
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Performing Arts Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$184,733
Expenses
$228,774
Assets
$58,448
Liabilities
$17,290

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • dan scherlis (DIRECTOR & president / Tre)
  • carla wasserman (pRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • chuck shaw (director): $4,083 total reported compensation
  • susanne sternick (director): $3,515 total reported compensation
  • ruth schecter (director): $2,460 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Enhance the lives of people in the greater boston area through education designed to develop better health, relaxation, and energy. Water way arts currently has about 200 students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 95% 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 - 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: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 17
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.8%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 65.2%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.07 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -23.8%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.26; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.4%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -11% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -9.2% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.8% of revenue deployed · 65.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $149K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $4K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2010 to 2016
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.