Caramoor Center for Music & the Arts Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
135643627
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Katonah, NY, USA
Phone
9142328425
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,442,122
Expenses
$9,245,161
Assets
$45,813,622
Liabilities
$298,593

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

Leadership & pay

33 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Edward Lewis III (President & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Edward Lewis III (President & CEO): $360,440 total reported compensation
  • Katherine Schuman (VP, Artistic Director): $230,532 total reported compensation
  • Tammy Belanger (VP, CFO): $199,078 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Caramoor's mission is to enrich the lives of audiences through innovative and diverse musical performances of the highest quality, mentor young professional musicians, and engage children through interactive educational experiences that deepen their relationship to and understanding of music. These three fundamentalsmusic performance, musician mentoring, and music educationinfuse everything we do.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education/Mentoring - See Schedule OCollaborations with local organizations strengthened our commitment to inclusivity, ensuring Caramoor remains a place where audiences from diverse backgrounds feel welcomed and inspired. Educational programs like Evnin Rising Stars, Schwab Vocal Rising Stars, and Terra Quartet's residency, nurtured emerging talent and children's concerts introduced young listeners to the joy of live music. Caramoor continues to enhance cultural vibrancy and create meaningful artistic experiences for the public. Caramoor's mentoring program provides opportunities for emerging talent to learn from established professionals, cultivating creativity, career growth, and artistic innovation. Since its founding in 1992, our mentoring program has been at the heart of our mission, providing young professional musicians with the opportunity to develop their artistry, gain invaluable performance experience, and engage with audiences in meaningful ways. Each year, the program brings these emerging artists to the stage, offering them the platform and guidance needed to refine their craft, expand their professional networks, and prepare for successful careers in the music industry. Through thoughtfully curated public performances, we not only share exceptional music with our audiences but also ensure that the legacy of musical excellence continues to thrive for future generations. In the 2024 season, we continued Caramoor's tradition of mentoring young artists through various programming and performances. One example is the Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence: one up-and-coming string quartet is chosen each year to complete a year-long residency at Caramoor. This year's quartet, the Terra String Quartet, has visited ten schools as part of our Student Strings program. The quartet also performed concerts at the schools and at Caramoor. Approximately 700 students were served by Caramoor's Education program in 2024.

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

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 61
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.3%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 68.7%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.4 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • 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: 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: -24.2%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.96; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.7%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.3% of revenue deployed · 68.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $6.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $360K · 33 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $736K reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.