Yara Arts Group

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133557399
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2127777675
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Theater

Reported finances

Revenue
$215,485
Expenses
$206,452
Assets
$44,556
Liabilities
$32,053

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Virlana Tkacz (Artistic Director & Board member): $20,329 total reported compensation
  • Tom Lee (Artistic Associate & Board member): $18,800 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Create original theatre pieces at La MaMa Theatre, Howl, Bohemian National Hall, East Village Basement, in New York City and the Jersey City Theater Center, as well as puppet shows, poetry art & music events, and film screenings.

What it reported doing in 2025

Yaras Poetry, Art, Music Media Talks and Screenings include: the monthly series UKR-CoLab that presents new work, new ideas and collaborations at Self Reliance Assoc in New York, Talk by the director of the Ukrainian Museum on David Burliuk at the East Village Basement, Yaras performance of Zhadan poetry at the LES Festival at Theatre for the New City, Virlana Tkacz on Yaras 35 Years at the Ukrainian Museum in New York, at the Garden on St Marks in New York and at the Centre Cultureld Ukraine in Paris. Yaras Zhadan and Friends: 2025 at the Bowery Poetry Club, Yaras The Magic of Light book presentation at UIMA in Chicago. Koliada in Kryvorivnia: Home live-stream on Facebook and Hutsul Chiltse or Wedding Bands livestream of film by Maria Dosiak.

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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.5%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 84%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $35.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Limited
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.2%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.22; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.72; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.5% of revenue deployed · 84% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $173K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $20K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.