Colorado Music Festival & Center for Musical Arts

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
840735716
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Boulder, CO, USA
Phone
3036650599
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,509,620
Expenses
$4,040,653
Assets
$2,780,901
Liabilities
$933,907

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JIM HEETER (PRESIDENT)
  • DAVID BRUNEL (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ELIZABETH MCGUIRE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELIZABETH MCGUIRE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $157,351 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To inspire and connect community members of all ages by providing access to the best of the world's music through education and performance.

What it reported doing in 2025

The center for musical arts had its most successful year ever as it continued to see growth in lesson enrollment. Faculty member jessica daniels was named the winner of the faculty inspiration award by the 2024 winner alex sierra. The tiny stage was featured in many local festivals and celebrations, boasting the presentation of musical performances to an estimated 60,000 individuals in the region. The building experienced a catastrophic flood during spring rainstorms due to the porous cinderblock foundation and some overflow from window wells. The damage was not covered by insurance and required asbestos removal and mitigation, drywall replacement, carpet replacement, bathroom tile and floor replacement for much of the basement space. Fortunately, staff was able to continue to deliver music lessons in other building spaces during much of the renovation in large part due to the summer timing when our student numbers decrease significantly.the organization hired a director of philanthropy, replaced a marketing manager with increased hours, and added a part time building manager. Otherwise staffing remained consistent.

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 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: 74
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.9%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 80.8%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -15.1%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.69; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.34; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.9%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 94.9% of revenue deployed · 80.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $3.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $157K · 14 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.