We Are the Culture Creators Nonprofit

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
844069467
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Detroit, MI, USA
Phone
3139106539
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Cultural, Ethnic Awareness

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$396,365
Expenses
$377,865
Assets
$18,820
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

2 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL REYES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELIZABETH STONE (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $30,000 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL REYES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $30,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide high quality arts/entrepreneurship education for young men of color in the city of Detroit; with an emphasis on: professional development, strategic goal setting, aesthetics, and artistic integrity. All held in a space that reflects them and their culture.

What it reported doing in 2023

Berlin International Music Exchange Program BETROIT We have commited to a 3 year International Music Exchange Program with the Nonprofit Gang Ways in Berlin, Germany {they work with hundreds at risk youth of color in Germany} which consists of a 10 youth artist exchange and music collaboration. This was our 3rd international exchange program within We Are Culture Creators. We had 3 Major Cultural Event Programs for the year of 2023 which we used 4k dedicated to curation. The 3 cultural events are Bloom on the Block a juneteenth Celebration, Cinco De Mayo and our Day of the Dead Gala Fundraising event.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 95% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 61% for direct work, 12% for grants, and 27% for member benefits.

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 assets have declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 78
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.4%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 92.7%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 5th 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: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 19th 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.7%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.05; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.9%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 45.7% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -12.9% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 88.4% of revenue deployed · 92.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $30K · 2 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 7/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 51/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Board meeting minutes documented not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.