Higher Octave Healing Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271896282
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Tempe, AZ, USA
Phone
6029602200
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Music

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$515,552
Expenses
$522,015
Assets
$78,039
Liabilities
$1,690

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SHELBE WHITE (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • SHELBE WHITE (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $62,773 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The corporation engages in music therapy for individuals with disabilities, educating persons in the field of music therapy working with individuals with disabilities, and community outreach for individuals with disabilities and their families.

What it reported doing in 2025

Clinic-based music therapy services: provided individual and group music therapy services to more than 70 people with developmental disabilities in the music therapy clinic facility. This includes the individual music therapy, social sounds, and rock band programs.community-based music therapy: provided music therapy services to individuals and groups across maricopa county in collaboration with more than 30 community partners. This includes the start with music, social sounds, and community music wellness programs.clinical education: provided student and professional music therapy education, including practicum and internship placements in partnership with Arizona state university and professional music therapist education approved by the certification board for music therapists.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 80% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 26
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.4%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 80.4%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.01 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 10th 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: -1.3%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.15; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.2% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.4% of revenue deployed · 80.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $420K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $63K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.