Girls Choral Academy
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 383360855
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Grand Rapids, MI, USA
- Phone
- 6163616111
- Rating
- 69
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Singing, Choral
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $428,431
- Expenses
- $307,995
- Assets
- $321,382
- Liabilities
- $1,125
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Lisa Knight (Executive Director)
- Kevin Nelson (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Lisa Knight (Executive Director): $87,750 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To provide an outstanding music program for youth in grades K through 12. See below for most significant activities.
What it reported doing in 2024
In 2024-25, GCA resumed rehearsals for 75 Choir students. Performed at First United Methodist Church Gala benefit Let Their Voice Be Heard at the Wege Ballroom at Aquinas Center the Circle Theaters Holiday Soul Celebration, the Mayflower church holiday concert, the Judges and Lawyers Baseball game the Shelley Irwin run and the Meijer Corporate Luncheon. Also at The Urban League of West Michigans annual MLK Corporate Breakfast, our High Notes Cabaret benefiting community donors. Our Grandville Avenue Girls Choir GVNC performed school holiday concerts, sang for Pridgeon and Clay corporate luncheon, the Table Hosted Luncheon, the Kiwanis club annual meeting and a concert at First United Methodist Church. Toured to Chicago and performed at the Hancock building for patrons, serving 56 students. Added 2 new campus this year at the Southeast Neighborhood Choirs Sherwood Park and Hope Academy. All programs totaled 100 girls. Completed our 2nd year of summer camp that enrolled 17, 3rd through 5th grade girls for 6 weeks, teaching music, movement, career exploration and writing.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 85% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 84% 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. 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: 48
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 70
- Sustainability: 58
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 40.6%; rating input score 41
- Program expense ratio: 56.4%; rating input score 56
- Fundraising efficiency: $20.19 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th 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: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 25th 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: Pass
- 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: 28.1%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.04; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 28.5%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 16.2% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 40.6% of revenue deployed · 56.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $174K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $88K · 13 people listed
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 41/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 56/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 58/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 42/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.