Beats Rhymes and Life

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
452382705
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2011
Location
Oakland, CA, USA
Phone
5104693446
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Counseling, Support Groups

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,959,460
Expenses
$2,217,773
Assets
$363,763
Liabilities
$256,334

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ROBERT JACKSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ROBERT JACKSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $186,098 total reported compensation
  • John Gill (Chief of Operations): $173,680 total reported compensation
  • Jonathan Kim (Chief of Staff): $152,948 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To promote mental health and wellness among youth and young adults of color, and other marginalized youth, by utilizing hip hop and other forms of youth culture as catalysts for change and development

What it reported doing in 2025

Uses hip hop in response to a critical need for more youth-centered, strength-based, culturally responsive therapeutic programs for youth of color

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 81% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 10
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.8%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 68.8%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $40.33 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -13.2%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.16; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.7; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.1%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.4% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.8% of revenue deployed · 68.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $186K · 7 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.