American Friends of Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237183563
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2126972949
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,798,869
Expenses
$4,892,954
Assets
$25,569,710
Liabilities
$774,087

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

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Claudio Pincus (Vice President)
  • Eta Somekh (Vice President)
  • James C Ackerman (President)
  • Jane Stern Lebell (Vice President)
  • Richard S Ziman (Vice President (through 6/24))
  • Sara Fabrikant (Vice President (through 5/24))

Highest reported compensation

  • Catherine Lou (CFO & Interim CEO (effective 10/24)): $264,421 total reported compensation
  • Jennifer Ritvo Hughes (Chief Executive Officer (through 9/24)): $225,470 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (AFIPO) is a non-profit organization dedicated to sustaining the financial future of the Israel Philharmonic, a world-class orchestra. AFIPO seeks to broaden the reach of the Israel Philharmonic and bring its message through music to the world. The monies raised by AFIPO assist with the operational support of the orchestra and its music education programs throughout Israel.

What it reported doing in 2024

Afipo proudly provides underwriting support for the israel philharmonic's keynote outreach and education program and sulamot program, where classical music is used as a vehicle for teaching compassion, nurturing our youth, encouraging classical music audiences of the future and enriching the cultural life of israel. Both programs offer a wide variety of music education activities, filling the void in music instruction available to the children of israel. Orchestra musicians and trained teachers bring classical music into jewish, arab-israeli, religious and secular schools, as well as institutions for homeless and disadvantaged children.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 83% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 84% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.8%; rating input score 97
  • Program expense ratio: 68.6%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.81 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: -2%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.23; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6.5% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.2% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.8% of revenue deployed · 68.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 24 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $264K · 29 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 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.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.