Royal National Theatre
Public records raise at least one point you should look into before giving.
What it says it does
THEATRE CAN LEAD TO EXTRAORDINARY MOMENTS OF SHARED IMAGINATION. IT ENABLES US TO STAND IN ANOTHERS SHOES TO BETTER UNDERSTAND OURSELVES AND THE WORLD AROUND US. IT SHOWS US WHO WE ARE, WHO WE HAVE BEEN, WHO WE COULD BE. THE NT DELIVERS ON THIS PROMISE THROUGH A WORLD-CLASS PROGRAMME OF PERFORMANCE, REINVIGORATING EXISTING WORK AND EXPLORING PROGRESSIVE NEW VOICES AND FORMS. WE MAKE THEATRE WITH AS WIDE A RANGE OF ARTISTS AS POSSIBLE, SEEKING ALWAYS TO FIND FRESH PERSPECTIVES ON THE STORIES THAT WE TELL. ON OUR STAGES IN LONDON, AND THROUGH TOURS, PARTNERSHIPS, DIGITAL AND BROADCAST, WE SHARE THIS WORK WITH A LARGE, DIVERSE AND EVOLVING AUDIENCE, THROUGHOUT THE UK AND AROUND THE WORLD. WE AIM TO PROVIDE LEADERSHIP AND ADVOCACY FOR THEATRE ACROSS THE COUNTRY. OUR WORK IS SHAPED BY THE WORLD AROUND US, AND WE SEEK TO BE CONSTANTLY ENGAGED WITH THE WIDER NATIONAL CONVERSATION. THROUGH THE WORK WE MAKE AND OUR WORLD-LEADING LEARNING PROGRAMME, WE WANT TO ENGAGE ALL AUDIENCES WITH THE POWER
- Income
- $176.9 million
- Spending
- $167.8 million
- Spent on programs
- 87%
- Reserves
- -1.1 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 58%
- Employees
- 0
- Volunteers
- 20
- Highest pay
- $301,845, co-chief executive
Source: Form 990 for the year ending March 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 55 out of 100. Higher than 24% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, over $100m).
Reserves
0 of 35Spendable reserves are negative: it owes or has committed more than it holds.
Debt
10 of 20It owes 38% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 5% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 16% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1587% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 7 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending March 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 90 out of 100. Higher than 11% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, over $100m).
Independent board
25 of 2514 of 14 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
0 of 10Did not give the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending March 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (1)
- $145.4 million spent. Our theatres on the South Bank In 2024/25, we staged 19 plays and musicals across the globe, including 13 productions in our theatres on the South Bank, five of which were world premieres. Our three theatres remained strongly attended at 81% seated capacity and we have continued to grow new audiences, with 94% of first-time attendees rating their experience as 'excellent'very good'. River Stage drew 36,000 visitors to London's largest free outdoor arts festival with four weekends of music, theatre, dance and workshops in collaboration with The Glory, Greenwich Docklands International Festival and Rambert. Sharing work beyond the South Bank An extraordinary 770,825 people experienced a live National Theatre production in 2024/25 in the West End, across the country and internationally. Theatre Nation Partnerships (TNP) By the National Theatre working in partnership with theatres and creative organisations in 13 priority areas of England, we create more opportunities for people to engage with theatre. This year we worked with our TNP partners on touring productions, community engagement and audience development activity, in-depth school programmes, expanding access to our digital platforms, and skill and resource sharing across the network. Through the TNP network, we supported a production of "Handbagged" by Moira Buffini, produced by Queen's Theatre Hornchurch, that toured to six TNP venues where it reached 11,400 people. The show also toured to six further venues - making it the longest midscale tour delivered through TNP - reaching an additional audience of 6,000 people to date. Speak Up Speak Up is a three-year programme which launched in 2022 and will conclude in summer 2025. It was set up to support young people most affected by the pandemic and in response to challenges in schools, to help to develop young people's self-expression, wellbeing and personal skills, with an open-ended invitation to make creative projects in their local area. Through Speak Up and TNP the National Theatre has established a strong collaborative network of theatres and arts organizations across England. We are in active conversation with our partners and Arts Council England about what comes next. Generate Our Generate programme was created during the pandemic in response to a demand from national organizations coinciding with capacity in the Studio. The National Theatre currently shares the space and resources of our New Work Studio with artists developing work that is destined for stages outside of London. This support can include costs like artist fees and travel expenses, as well as offering space for workshops and writing, dramaturgical support, and introductions to potential co-producing partners. Since the outset of Generate, 1,039 actors and artists have been engaged on the programme. 93% of the projects supported either had the writer in the room or were devised as a company. This year, once again, a third of our New Work Department research and development workshops were devoted to supporting over 30 theatres and companies from outside London through our Generate programme, including Paines Plough (My Mother's Funeral), Sheffield Theatres (Dolls House), Middle Child (Biting point), Kook Ensemble (Sand), and Theatr3 (Port Talbot Gotta Banksy). Alongside these organizations, we also supported individual artists and their projects. National Theatre Live In 2024/25, National Theatre Live released seven productions to cinemas in over 50 countries, watched by an audience of over 1.8 million people across more than 250,000 screenings, with 90% watching a broadcast outside London. The 15-year-old initiative reached a significant milestone, celebrating its 100th release in April 2024 with the release of Nye, charting the life of Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan and his battle to create the NHS. National Theatre at Home A further 26 titles were added to our streaming platform in 2024/25, taking the total number of productions available to over 100. Titles added included award-winning productions from the West End such as Vanya with Andrew Scott as well as the National Theatre including Beth Steel's Olivier Award nominated play Till The Stars Come Down. In November Nye was streamed free on the National Theatre's YouTube channel for our annual 'Take Your Seats' initiative and watched by over 160,000 viewers across the globe. 51% of the YouTube audience was under 35 and it marked the first live stream with Welsh subtitles. National Theatre at Home subscribers watched over 31 million minutes of filmed theatre in 184 countries last year. All productions are available with captions, over 90% are available with audio-description, and we are building on our British Sign Language offering with monthly BSL releases of our back catalogue. INSPIRE We have provided Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to 667 teachers and youth leaders, impacting an estimated 146,500 students across the UK. Nearly 1,000 schools have taken part in our in-person learning programmes, including student conferences, bespoke school matinees, attendance at NT productions at the South Bank and backstage tours. This year saw the launch of our new NT Learning Hub on the National Theatre website, a one-stop shop for teachers and students to inspire curiosity, enhance learning and support teaching. Over the year we had 25,252 engagements, including 6,229 downloads of our learning resources. These resources include Creative activities and videos about theatre-making, free downloadable PDF resources, and short-form videos with educational content, all designed to inspire new ways of teaching English, drama, and theatre studies. Schools touring In 2024/25, we toured "The LeftBehinds" to secondary schools nationwide. Co-created by playwright Ross Willis and director Ned Bennett, this new production was set in a post-apocalyptic future, following a group of young survivors on a mission to rebuild an android and save the planet. Nearly 7,500 students from 56 seco
Source: Form 990 for the year ending March 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Caution.
The IRS master file records contributions to this 501(c)(3) charitable organization as not deductible.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending March 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since June 2014.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.