Waterfire Providence
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 222951612
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Providence, RI, USA
- Phone
- 4012731155
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,315,728
- Expenses
- $3,152,596
- Assets
- $10,345,466
- Liabilities
- $2,258,304
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- PETER A MELLO (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- PETER A MELLO (CEO): $145,627 total reported compensation
- BARNABY M EVANS (EXECUTIVE ARTISTIC DIRECTO): $132,757 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
An arts organization that inspires providence and its visitors by revitalizing the urban experience, fostering community engagement and creatively transforming the city by presenting waterfire.
What it reported doing in 2024
Waterfire providence manages and organizes waterfire, a large public art installation/event. In calendar 2024, waterfire produced 9 full lighting events, 6 partials, and 3 sunset lightings. Waterfire draws between 10,000 and 100,000 spectators into downtown providence, ri each evening and approx 1,000,000 over the course of the season from may to december. More than 50% of attendees travel from out of state specifically to experience waterfire and create a significant economic impact in their wake. Waterfire providence generates $114 million of economic impact for local businesses and $9 million of direct tax revenue for the state of ri and supports 1,294 additional jobs for residents. Waterfire secures millions of dollars of traditional and new media value painting providence in a positive light each year making ri a top international cultural tourism destination. In 2018, waterfire moved into the waterfire arts center, the organization's first permanent visible home in the community and a multi-use arts venue that hosts exhibitions, performances, events and educational programs open to the public.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 64% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 65
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 93
- Sustainability: 55
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 70.1%; rating input score 70
- Program expense ratio: 70.9%; rating input score 71
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th 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: 88.2%; rating input score 88; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 4.9%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.28; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.8%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 70.1% of revenue deployed · 70.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 17 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $146K · 17 people listed
- Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 5 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.