Young Audiences of New Jersey Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237384991
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Princeton, NJ, USA
- Phone
- 6092439000
- Rating
- 88
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts Education
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,978,665
- Expenses
- $3,148,884
- Assets
- $6,616,455
- Liabilities
- $163,466
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
31 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Michele Russo (Pres & CEO)
- Ann Betterton (Vice President of Institutional Advancement)
Highest reported compensation
- Michele Russo (Pres & CEO): $149,756 total reported compensation
- Ann Betterton (Vice President of Institutional Advancement): $109,262 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Young Auidiences (YA) mission is to inspire young peope and expand their learning through the arts. Arts education is who we are and what we do. The work of the board, staff, and teaching artists is guided by a vision of a future in which all students in our region engage in high-quality arts experiences as an integral part of their education. YA is committed to providing all children- inclusive of disabilties, neurodiversity, gender diversity, language, economic status, race and ethnicity- with arts education in which their creativity, cultures and identities are valued and nurtured. YA delivers teaching artist-led arts programming directly in schools to pre-k-12th grade students, teachers, and families through residencies, workshops, performances, teacher professional learning, and family programs. Our programs are authentic, learning level appropriate, and culturally responsive arts learning experiences. Since our founding in 1973, YA has grown into the regions largest arts education
What it reported doing in 2024
Performances/Assemblies: Our performances introduce artforms and provide new and diverse cultural experiences to our audience of students and teachers. We value performance as a vital and powerful component of arts education.: while our stage is a school auditorium, the work is as important and impactful as an event at a performing arts venue. Our 99 performances provide the social connection and intellectual stimulation of seeing a play, concert, or dance performance as part of the school day. We strive to ensure that children value live performance as essential to a full life, cultivating the next generation of performing artists and supporters.
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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 41
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 94.8%; rating input score 95
- Program expense ratio: 89.5%; rating input score 90
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
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: 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: 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: -5.7%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.1; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.2%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 94.8% of revenue deployed · 89.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 30 of 30 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $150K · 31 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $144K reported
- Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 2 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.