Yellow Tree Theatre

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
261329665
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Osseo, MN, USA
Phone
7634938733
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Theater

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$403,540
Expenses
$472,447
Assets
$21,037
Liabilities
$121,803

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • OMAR WILLIAMS-INTERIM (PRESIDENT THRU 3/1/2025)

Highest reported compensation

  • AUSTENE VAN (EXECUTIVE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $66,128 total reported compensation
  • BRANDON RAGHU (MANAGING DIRECTOR): $45,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Yellow tree theatre brings stories to life that ignite passion, inspire laughter and awaken possibility while exploring and celebrating the great complexities of the human spirit. We strive to be a welcoming artistic venue where (continued on schedule o)people of all ages and walks of life can gather to experience authentic community, and to produce high-quality professional productions in the heart of the northwest suburbs of minneapolis, making live theater more accessible to the community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Yellow tree theatre produces professional theatre programming in its 120-seat venue. During fiscal year 2025, the organization produced several mainstage plays, including dial m for murder by jeffrey hatcher (september 26-october 19, 2024) and steel magnolias by robert harling (november 15-december 22, 2024). Yellow tree also supported new work development through a script reading/workshop, presenting the girl who cried different as a staged reading on october 6, 2024. The season further featured two multidisciplinary initiatives: the one woman playwright festival (february 1-23, 2025), the inaugural festival dedicated to celebrating women playwrights and their new works; and the masters of improvisation concert series (june-july 2025), an improvisation-based live-performance (continued on schedule o)concert program. In addition, yellow tree theatre produced the return of its summer education series, presenting treehouse in july 2025, engaging young artists in training and performance.

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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 11
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 84.4%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -17.1%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.04; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 5.79; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.5%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -12% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.2% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -48% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 84.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $399K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $66K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.