Fox Valley Music Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471159879
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Aurora, IL, USA
Phone
3312128490
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Reported finances

Revenue
$775,926
Expenses
$794,285
Assets
$372,746
Liabilities
$345,424

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RYAN ANDERSON (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KAREN FOUTS (EXECUTIVE DI): $31,754 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The foundation's goal is to preserve, protect, promote the music of the fox valley (Illinois) area. This is accomplished by providing educational opportunities through their website, free lectures, music documentaries, livestream and performace events. Events are held in the venue operated by the music foundation, and in the adjacent mundy park in furtherance of its broader non-profit goals.

What it reported doing in 2024

Residency programs in 2022 the music foundation, in cooperation with the pete ellman jazz big band nfp, began a weekly residency program, presenting 38 jazz big band concerts that included 45 middle and high school jazz bands as "openers" prior to the professional big band concerts. This program speaks directly to our mission to provide affordable music programming and education to all. This program is a way to get budding musicians into a real-world environment where they can play in front of a live audience as well as parents and classmates. The highly successful series takes place from mid- october thru june and sells out on a regular basis. In addition to the jazz residency, the venue is pleased to have terrapin flyer as a monthly residency. The grateful dead tribute band performs on the second thursday of each month to packed audiences. What is at the core of the residency is the idea that the grateful dead and jerry garcia's music still has plenty of life in it and that the music being so improvisational in nature can and does go to new places in each performance. No two terrapin flyer shows are ever the same and you never know who might show up to jam at a show.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 89% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.6%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 64%; rating input score 64
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 2; 2nd 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.4%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.47; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.93; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 20.5% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 24.9% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.5% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.6% of revenue deployed · 64% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $508K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $32K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 7/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.