W.C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival
Legal name: Henderson Music Preservation Society Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 611257022
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019
- Location
- Henderson, KY, US
- Phone
- 270-823-4984
- Rating
- 86
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts, Culture, and Humanities
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $276,935
- Expenses
- $278,923
- Assets
- $243,580
- Liabilities
- $44,564
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- GALE MYERS (PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- KENNY PERKINS (DIRECTOR)
- GALE MYERS (PRESIDENT)
- JOY RIES (TREASURER)
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 preserve the blues as an art form and celebrate the life and legacy of W.C. Handy through the annual W.C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival, a free community event.
What it reported doing in 2024
W.c. Handy blues & barbecue festival for 30 years (1991-2021) the society provided free to the public, live blues music performances and childrens activities including arts camp and workshop, etc. To benefit approximately 30,000 attendees per year.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 71% 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
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 97
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 64
- Sustainability: 39
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 98.3%; rating input score 98
- Fundraising efficiency: $56.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 78; 78th 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: -0.7%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.87; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 98.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $274K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
- 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.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.