Camerata Chicago Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
200069383
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2016
Location
Wheaton, IL, USA
Phone
6302215555
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Music

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$777,525
Expenses
$656,428
Assets
$918,211
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DROSTAN HALL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • SPENCER GARRET (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DROSTAN HALL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $113,500 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Camerata chicago is a world class chamber orchestra serving chicago and its surrounding communities with performances of great music featuring musicians of global distinction, camerata chicago is committed to providing an incomparable concert experience which enriches the community and inspires the next generation of musicians and concert goers.

What it reported doing in 2025

Provide various muscial programs. Enhance the experience of the concert goers. Provide classical music education to the general public via online courses.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 64% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 57
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 90.6%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $148.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 89; 89th 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: 80%; rating input score 80; 21st 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: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 15.6%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.4; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.5% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82% of revenue deployed · 90.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 10 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $595K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $114K · 10 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $114K reported
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.