Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
113129249
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Phone
7182439447
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Singing, Choral

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,150,935
Expenses
$3,193,647
Assets
$5,267,342
Liabilities
$562,441

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MEGAN LEMLEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DIANNE BERKUN MENAKER (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $194,843 total reported compensation
  • MEGAN LEMLEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $142,421 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Brooklyn youth chorus's mission is to inspire, educate, and empower young singers of diverse backgrounds through artistic excellence and innovation in choral music performance, training, and the creation of new works. Brooklyn youth chorus's city-wide, multi-level training program and grammy-winning ensembles are known for their distinctive sound and virtuosity, bringing a fresh perspective to choral performance that crosses boundaries and defies convention. With over 25 years of success and impact in the field, the chorus seeks to raise the artistic profile and educational standards in choral performance and education by furthering its unique cross-choral training methodology and building a dynamic new repertoire from an inclusive roster of composers and artistic collaborators.

What it reported doing in 2024

Founded in 1992, the grammy award-winning brooklyn youth chorus academy (byc) is dedicated to offering music training and choral performances to enrich the lives of its students and community. Through music study and professional-level performances, byc unites children of diverse backgrounds and helps them develop into confident and expressive musicians and individuals. Byc strives to advance the artistic role of youth choruses through innovative concerts, commissions and artistic collaborations.in 2024-25, byc's choral music education and performance program served 667 nyc students ages 518, including 541 in ensemble rehearsals and 126 through school partnerships and workshops. Students received instruction across six training levels and three performing ensembles, supported by private lessons, musicianship classes, and masterclasses. Byc welcomed artistic advisors arreon a. Harley-emerson and dr. Diana v. Sez to strengthen artistic and educational programming. Byc's college and career readiness initiative supported 18 teens with focused vocal training, mentorship, and college preparation for artistic careers.in this, 33rd season, byc presented 40 performances reaching more than 100,000 audience members across New York city. Highlights included appearances at the united nations summit of the future; carnegie hall with gustavo dudamel, natalia lafourcade, and the los angeles philharmonic; and a performance of bernstein's symphony no. 3 "kaddish" with the orchestra of st. Luke's.continuing a focus on musical innovation, in may 2025, byc premiered port(al), a site-specific work by paola prestini, jad abumrad, and jessica grindstaff, exploring nyc history and future through the lens of the brooklyn navy yard. Byc also continued its diamonstein-spielvogel youth and contemporary music initiative, exploring culturally relevant repertoire, and engaging composers-in-residence kenyon duncan and anglica negrn to create new works across all divisions.the brooklyn youth chorus has an active and engaged board of trustees who provide guidance and oversight and participate in a number of committees to help support and advocate for the organization. As part of their responsibilities, the compensation committee of the board conducts annual performance reviews for the executive director and artistic director and makes compensation recommendations for each to the board for board approval.

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 - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 75.4%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.51 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 7; 7th 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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.7%; rating input score 96; 26th 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: -48.5%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.65; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.6%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 75.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 23 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $195K · 24 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2011 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.