Augusta Symphony Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
581806334
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Augusta, GA, USA
Phone
7068264719
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Symphony Orchestras

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,840,977
Expenses
$3,515,971
Assets
$18,306,465
Liabilities
$1,345,472

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

Leadership & pay

52 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • VICTORIA BEDDER (PRESIDENT)
  • KATHY SCHAFER (PRESIDENT-EL)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID WATTS (MILLER EX. D): $125,962 total reported compensation
  • PAIGE TOM (EXECUTIVE DI): $109,261 total reported compensation
  • DIRK MEYER (MUSIC DIRECT): $91,401 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Augusta symphony is a professional orchestra for augusta's river region and pursues its mission through orchestral symphonic, pops and other family concerts. Through its education outreach, the augusta symphony strives to foster broad accessibility to live classical music performances and a lifelong appreciation of the art form among people of all ages, backgrounds and means. The miller theater is the home of the augusta symphony and its mission is to provide and produce diverse programs and events that engage, entertain and educate.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provided symphony concerts and promoted music awareness and education in the augusta and aiken communities throughout the year.

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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.6%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 54.6%; rating input score 55
  • Fundraising efficiency: $73.23 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -23.8%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.21; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.3%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.6% of revenue deployed · 54.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 49 of 49 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $126K · 52 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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: Program expense ratio scored 55/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.