Ensemble Music Society of Indianapolis Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
356017746
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone
3178181288
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$193,795
Expenses
$145,578
Assets
$684,365
Liabilities
$24,928

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHN FAILEY (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • COLLETTE GROSSMAN ABEL (BOARD MEMEBE)
  • LORELEI FARLOW (BOARD MEMBER)
  • JOHN J GOODMAN (BOARD MEMBER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

To provide indianapolis citizens access to highly trained and skilled musicians, who perform chamber music ensemble concerts and who agree to educate elementary and high school students by teaching classes while in indianapolis

What it reported doing in 2024

Founded in 1944, ensemble music society of indianapolis, inc. (emsi) presents an annual series of chamber music concerts performed by world- renown ensembles of touring and recording artists. The concerts are performed at the Indiana historical society and the indianapolis landmarks center. Emsi's mission has long included promoting music education in the schools by taking the visiting ensembles into public and private elementary and secondary schools throughout indianapolis to offer lectures and demonstrations for students. There is no charge to the students or schools. Exposing students to these generous and talented musicians is meant to encourage the students' study of music and even a career in the musical arts. Emsi has created the "betty on" chamber music award to carry on the mission of an indianapolis music educator and arts advocate - betty perry. Emsi presents the award to selected members of the indianapolis metropolitan youth orchestra and selected music students at butler university's school of music. Season tickets are given to the awardees plus family/friend to enable the student to attend emsi's world class music programs. The gift is aimed to encourage a tradition of attending musical performances and to inspire further exploration into the musical arts. The award winners also receive a small stipend. Emsi remains an all-volunteer organization. The thousands of volunteer hours given annually by our board keep expenses down and ticket prices reasonable.

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.

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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 93.3%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $47.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 24.9%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.7; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -16.6% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77% of revenue deployed · 93.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $136K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 17 of 17 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.