Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042790069
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6173535338
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,907,187
Expenses
$5,254,003
Assets
$32,761,784
Liabilities
$1,808,924

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

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CATHERINE WEISKEL (PRES/CEO & EX-OFFICIO)

Highest reported compensation

  • CATHERINE WEISKEL (PRES/CEO & EX-OFFICIO): $262,588 total reported compensation
  • MARTHA A ROBINSON (CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER): $165,465 total reported compensation
  • FEDERICO CORTESE (MUSIC DIRECTOR): $155,600 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To encourage musical excellence in a professional and supportive environment by providing the highest quality orchestra training and performance opportunities to qualified musicians, grades k-12, and making its programs accessible to underserved communities through financial assistance and outreach.

What it reported doing in 2024

Concert productions - to provide logistical support to the orchestras at boston university and outside concert venues.

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 96% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 73
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59.6%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 74.3%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 95%; rating input score 95; 25th 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: 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 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 23.9%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.24; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.3%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.4% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 59.6% of revenue deployed · 74.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 23 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $263K · 32 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 19/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.