AspireConservatory of Fine & Performing Arts Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 841978257
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2021–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020
- Location
- Ashland, KY, USA
- Phone
- 7405342656
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts Education
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $292,035
- Expenses
- $261,675
- Assets
- $228,015
- Liabilities
- $2,248
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Jennifer Hulett (President)
- Karen Hopkins (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Janet D Hartley (Treasurer): $51,803 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Aspire educates students in the arts by offerings lessons in piano, voice, guitar, folk instruments, orchestra strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion, as well as theatre to youth and adult students. Aspire also conducts an after school art program at a local elementary school.
What it reported doing in 2025
AspireConservatory excels in offering high quality fine arts education and experiences. Our client enrollment each semester averages 350 and our client age range is 3 to 80. Our students are showcased in end of semester performances and exhibits twice a year. Our private music student successes are evidenced by: adjudications and extra performances with MTNA; auditions for and participation in the Kentucky Governors School For the Arts program; and All-County, All-District, and All-State bands and choirs. Our theatre program has grown at such a rate that we added a second theatre group. Both groups perform a musical production each semester, and our summer theatre camp produces an outdoor drama for Greenbo Lake State Resort Park. Our art students hold 2 exhibits per year, and some students participate in exhibits at area galleries. Finally, we excel in providing services to preschool students, adults with special needs, and assisted living facilities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 97% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 80
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 69
- Sustainability: 45
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 86.3%; rating input score 86
- Program expense ratio: 97.3%; rating input score 97
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 10.4%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.87; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 19.8%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 14.5% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 30.6% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 86.3% of revenue deployed · 97.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $255K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $52K · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
- 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 57/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.