Free Guitars for Future Stars
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 371577002
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2015–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025
- Location
- Wonder Lake, IL, USA
- Rating
- 69
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $19,377
- Expenses
- $33,963
- Assets
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DAN BOWMAN (President)
- GERRY FITZMAURICE (Vice President)
People named in this filing
- TAMARA MCMILLAN (Treasurer)
- SCOTT NEUMANN (Executive Dir.)
- CHERYL NEUMANN (Director)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To provide free guitars and instruction to youths, ages 7-17, from low income mchenry county families.
What it reported doing in 2025
Music instruments and related instruction, benefitting over 50 low income children in mchenry county per year.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent revenue detail to tell how this nonprofit funds its work.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and some filed totals do not add up.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 65
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Sustainability: 12
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 76.8%; rating input score 77
- Program expense ratio: 43.8%; rating input score 44
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -75.3%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 76.8% of revenue deployed · 43.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $15K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
- Consistency: 5 of 6 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2015 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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: Program expense ratio scored 44/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part III transfer expenses within program total did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.