Emmanuel Music Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042690262
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6175363356
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,278,457
Expenses
$1,288,993
Assets
$252,564
Liabilities
$11,317

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • VANESSA HOLROYD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AS OF AUG 2025)
  • DANA WHITESIDE (PRESIDENT)
  • PETER LIBBY (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KELLY REED (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHARLEY BLANDY (DIRECTOR & MUSICIAN): $9,031 total reported compensation
  • VANESSA HOLROYD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AS OF AUG 2025): $8,813 total reported compensation
  • DANA WHITESIDE (PRESIDENT): $2,617 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Emmanuel music engages with audiences and musicians to explore the enduring questions of our shared human experience, building on our core commitment to the music of j.s. Bach. Expanding on a 55-year plus tradition of weekly bach cantatas in a liturgical setting, we perform concert repertoire from baroque to contemporary in large and small ensembles, inviting audiences to explore and discover familiar and unfamiliar masterworks. The commitment and discipline of performing together more than 50 times a year nurtures a core of established and emerging musicians and fosters unparalleled artistic excellence. In our outreach we are committed to training the next generation of musicians, mentoring young students, and inspiring broad audiences in free concerts, lectures, and master classes.

What it reported doing in 2024

Emmanuel music, deeply committed to the enduring legacy of j.s. Bach continues to impact its audience and musicians through a blend of performance, scholarship, and community engagement. The 2024/2025 season exemplified this with our foundational and ongoing cantata series, which presents a different bach cantata each sunday as part of the worship service at emmanuel epsicopal church. The series offers free in-person and livestreamed access, and includes premieres of new works through our motet commissioning project. The lindsey chapel series provided six free noontime performances by solo musicians, including the complete english suites for keyboard by bach. In 2024-2025, emmanuel music also continued critical community engagement with our partners at the boston public library, boston arts academy, and project step. In addition, we offered numerous public lectures, discussions, and performances held as part of our bach institute january intensive young artist program. This multifaceted programming approach spanning regular liturgical performances, a dedicatedmainstage concert series, educational initiatives, and access to online intellectual resources through our bach notes and translations, provides over forty free opportunities, both in-person and virtual, for people to learn about and experience live music, reinforcing emmanuel music's role as a vital, international "living laboratory" for the music of j.s. Bach

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 54
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59.1%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 58.1%; rating input score 58
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.02 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 13; 13th 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: 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: -0.8%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.2; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.6%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 59.1% of revenue deployed · 58.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $749K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $9K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 58/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 13/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.