Chamber Music America Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 132934575
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY, USA
- Phone
- 2122422022
- Rating
- 86
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Professional Societies, Associations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,075,875
- Expenses
- $3,662,696
- Assets
- $12,109,058
- Liabilities
- $1,765,185
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
35 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JENNIFER GRIM (PRESIDENT)
- JENNY BILFIELD (VICE PRESIDENT)
- OLIVER RAGSDALE JR (VICE PRESIDENT)
- KEVIN KWAN LOUCKS (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- KEVIN KWAN LOUCKS (CEO): $189,683 total reported compensation
- JOSE FELICIANO (DIRECTOR OF GRANT PROGRAMS): $120,750 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Chamber music america's mission is to develop, support, and strengthen the chamber music community. Cma serves as the hub of this field, comprised of individual artists, independent musical ensembles, volunteer and institutional presenters, and others involved in the performance and presentation of small ensemble music.
What it reported doing in 2024
Grant programssix cma grant programs, in which funding is given to ensembles and concert presenters, awarded 68 grants in the following areas:1) classical commissioning: 4 grants were awarded for the creation ofnew chamber works in the classical tradition; 2) new jazz works: 15 grants were awarded for the creation, performance, and recording of new works for small ensembles in the jazz idiom;3) presenter consortium for jazz: 18 grants were awarded to fivepresenter consortiums to support multiple performances by jazz ensembles;4) artistic projects: 17 grants were awarded to grant opportunities for small ensembles and presenters based in the five boroughs of New York city with operating budgets under $250,0005) performance plus: 14 grants were awarded to female-led jazz ensembles to work with artist-educators and produce demo recordings to expand their career opportunities.6) ensemble forward: 0 grants were awarded to young classical ensembles based in the five boroughs of New York city to work with established chamber music coaches to develop their distinctive and cohesive ensemble sound as they build their careers.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 57% for direct work, and 43% for grants.
The verdict
STRONG - 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: 87
- Transparency & Controls: 88
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 36
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 80.3%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 99.2%; rating input score 99; 37th 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 8 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: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -19.1%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.31; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.5%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -2.8% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 80.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 33 of 33 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $190K · 35 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 38 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 36 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 46/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.