Playwrights Project FY2024 filing

Tax-deductible

San Diego, CA501(c)(3)Since 1985Arts & CultureEIN 33-0394250

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Playwrights Projects mission is to empower individuals of all ages and backgrounds to voice stories through theatre, inspiring individual growth and creating meaningful community connections.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
92¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
$92K paid to officers and key staff.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · Pay: Part VII

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FY2024 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2024
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2024, 2 tax years back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
5 of 5
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $122K a year · 20% of revenue · last 5 filings
Looks good: a surplus in 5 of the last 5 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 5 filings
Spent on programs
92%
of spending
Looks good: 92% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$92K
to officers and key staff · 12% of spending
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 12% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
Cash reserves
13 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 12.6 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
4
named funders · $236K
Looks good: 4 funders name it on their filings; 3 or more.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$87K
9% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 9% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
12
of 12 voting members
Looks good: 12 of 12 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$860K
+0.1% vs prior year
Spent
$775K
To programs
92%
Net assets
$873K
By yearFY2020–FY2024
Revenue
$860K
FY2024+0.1%
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$460K
FY2021$485K
FY2022$432K
FY2023$859K
FY2024$860K
FY2024$535K
Expenses
$775K
FY2024▲ +67%
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$429K
FY2021$419K
FY2022$397K
FY2023$465K
FY2024$775K
FY2024$718K
Net assets
$873K
FY2024▲ +11%
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$293K
FY2021$359K
FY2022$394K
FY2023$788K
FY2024$873K
FY2024$690K

From the FY2024 Form 990 (year ending June 2024) · see the original

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Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Mar 1994.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

92 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 92% · $716K Management & general 3% · $27K Fundraising 4% · $33K

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

13 people listed on the 990; $92K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2023); the FY2024 filing did not itemize Part VII
Executive Director
$92,434Pt VII · Sec A
President
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Treasurer
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Vice President
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Director
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Cecelia Kouma’s $96K as Executive Director is at the 86th percentile of top reported officer pay among 2216 $100K–1M arts & culture nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 3 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Cecelia Kouma$95,825$92,434$76,316$79,350$80,443$74,084
Ishita Saxena-Dayal$401—————
Ahmed Kenyatta Dents$280—————

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

See Playwrights Project executive salaries →

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

Empowers people of all ages to share stories through theatre, fostering growth and community.

Provided by the organization

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3 program services account for $582K of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2023.
01

Out of the Yard Arts in Corrections program 378 currently or formerly incarcerated adults wrote individual plays during workshops writers scripts were performed for 1097 audience members inside facilities and out in the public, including live productions at SDSU and a Far South/Border North project creating five plays to be adapted into…

$367Kprogram expense
02

Teaching Programs 1166 students and 199 teachers across San Diego County received instruction in playwriting, strengthening skills in written and verbal communication and creative expression, and promoting theatre as a tool for education and community building. 140 individuals attended culminating performances of participants plays.

$138Kprogram expense
03

Production Play Festival Our professional production of the 39th season of the Plays by Young Writers Festival presented winning scripts from our California Young Playwrights Contest. Two plays by writers age 16 to 18 were fully produced, and two plays by writers age 13 were staged readings.

$77Kprogram expense

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Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2023
See all 4 funders →

By the numbers

The FY2024 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$860K
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$811K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$40K
Investment incomeLn 3$9K
Money outPt IX
$775K
Ln 25
Programscol B$716K
Managementcol C$27K
Fundraisingcol D$33K
Owns and owesPt X
$873K
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$815K
Total assetsLn 16$959K
LiabilitiesLn 26$87K
PeoplePt VI, VII
13
listed · VII A
PaidVII A1
Voting boardVI 1a12
IndependentVI 1b12
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$811K
Government grantsLn 1e$477K
Noncash giftsLn 1g$528
Fundraising eventsLn 1c$3K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$40K
Investment incomeLn 3$9K
Other incomeLn 4–11$2
Total revenueLn 12$860K
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$493K
SavingsLn 2$322K
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$815K
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$3K
Total assetsLn 16$959K
LiabilitiesLn 26$87K
Net assetsLn 32$873K
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 5116
VolunteersI 6113
Fiscal year endsHeaderJune
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY24End FY24
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$731K$815K
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$3K
Total assetsLn 16$834K$959K
LiabilitiesLn 26$46K$87K
Net assetsLn 32$788K$873K
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1$0
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2$0
Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3$0
Benefits paid to or for membersLn 4$0
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$99K$90K$5K$3K
Pay of disqualified personsLn 6$0
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$433K$402K$11K$21K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$0
Other employee benefitsLn 9$29K$26K$2K$1K
Payroll taxesLn 10$44K$41K$1K$2K
Management feesLn 11a$0
Legal feesLn 11b$0
Accounting feesLn 11c$2K$2K
Lobbying feesLn 11d$0
Investment management feesLn 11f$0
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$6K$6K$345
Advertising and promotionLn 12$3K$1K$523$1K
Office expensesLn 13$10K$9K$295$435
Information technologyLn 14$0
RoyaltiesLn 15$0
OccupancyLn 16$53K$49K$2K$2K
TravelLn 17$13K$13K$184$40
Travel and entertainment for public officialsLn 18$0
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$0
InterestLn 20$0
Payments to affiliatesLn 21$0
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$572$572
InsuranceLn 23$7K$6K$208$300
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$75K$72K$2K$811
All other expensesLn 24e$0
Total functional expensesLn 25$775K$716K$27K$33K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 Viewing $860K$775K$85K$873K 990 PDF
FY2023 $859K$465K$394K$788K 990 PDF
FY2022 $432K$397K$36K$394K 990 PDF
FY2021 $485K$419K$66K$359K 990 PDF
FY2020 $460K$429K$31K$293K 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
See the full FY2024 990 (4 parts)
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $859,995 across 9 lines filed
VIII-1c Fundraising events$3,426
VIII-1e Government grants$477,495
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$330,259
VIII-1g Noncash contributions (included above)$528
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$811,180
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $39,960$39,960
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $8,853$8,853
VIII-5 RoyaltiesRelated to mission $2$2
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $39,962 · Excluded from tax $8,853$859,995
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $775,161 across 30 lines filed
IX-1 Grants to domestic organizations$0
IX-2 Grants to domestic individuals$0
IX-3 Grants and assistance to foreign recipients$0
IX-4 Benefits paid to or for members$0
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $90,181 · Management $5,425 · Fundraising $3,200$98,806
IX-6 Pay of disqualified persons$0
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $401,743 · Management $10,964 · Fundraising $20,702$433,409
IX-8 Pension plan contributions$0
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $25,603 · Management $1,749 · Fundraising $1,393$28,745
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $40,920 · Management $1,362 · Fundraising $1,988$44,270
IX-11a Management fees$0
IX-11b Legal fees$0
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $2,200$2,200
IX-11d Lobbying fees$0
IX-11f Investment management fees$0
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $6,125 · Fundraising $345$6,470
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $1,114 · Management $523 · Fundraising $1,217$2,854
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $8,936 · Management $295 · Fundraising $435$9,666
IX-14 Information technology$0
IX-15 Royalties$0
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $49,412 · Management $1,648 · Fundraising $2,401$53,461
IX-17 TravelPrograms $13,038 · Management $184 · Fundraising $40$13,262
IX-18 Travel and entertainment for public officials$0
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetings$0
IX-20 Interest$0
IX-21 Payments to affiliates$0
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationManagement $572$572
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $6,178 · Management $208 · Fundraising $300$6,686
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $72,336 · Management $1,613 · Fundraising $811$74,760
IX-24e All other expenses$0
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $715,586 · Management $26,743 · Fundraising $32,832$775,161
Part X · Balance sheet $959,464 assets, 12 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $534,096$492,959
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $196,980$322,226
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $92,524$133,765
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $10,569$7,272
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, net$3,242
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $834,169$959,464
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $46,254$86,715
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $46,254$86,715
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $228,486$237,797
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $559,429$634,952
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $787,915$872,749
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $834,169$959,464
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $872,749 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$859,995
XI-2 Total expenses$775,161
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$84,834
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$787,915
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$872,749

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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