American Composers Alliance
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 131550544
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Aug 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
- Location
- New York, NY, USA
- Phone
- 2128378082
- Rating
- 73
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Music
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $256,115
- Expenses
- $263,703
- Assets
- $79,038
- Liabilities
- $1,986
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- BARBARA JAZWINSKI (PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- ANDREW ARDIZZOIA (TREASURER)
- DOUG HARBIN (SECRETARY)
- BARBARA JAZWINSKI (PRESIDENT)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The American Composers Alliance (ACA) is a music publisher and distributor dedicated to promoting and preserving the works of American composers. Its mission is to make contemporary American concert music accessible to a global audience through a collective publishing catalog, while ensuring composers retain full ownership of their copyrights.
What it reported doing in 2024
The primary program activity for aca involves the management and preservation of a collection of classical music by several generations of american composers, dating to 1905. The goal is to continue the work of the organizations's founders to support and curate new creative work and also preserve historical works, maintaining a diverse catalog that reaches performing artists world-wide. The grranting of administration and custodial rights to aca by the authors allows for their music to remain in print for study and performance for the long term future. During the 2022-2023 year aca was awarded a government grant from the national endowment for the arts (nea) in the amount of 10,000 for work being done on the catalog through 2023. Expenses towards this project were incurred during the current fiscal year - so while the grant will not be awarded until the next fiscal year, the current year deficit will be corrected in the following year when the award is received.
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
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 51
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 94
- Sustainability: 33
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 56.5%; rating input score 57
- Program expense ratio: 54.2%; rating input score 54
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th 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: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -3%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.3; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 56.5% of revenue deployed · 54.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $143K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 54/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 16/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.