International House of Blues Foundation Dba House of Blues Music Forward Found
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 043179950
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2014
- Forms available
- Form 990 2014
- Location
- Hollywood, CA, USA
- Phone
- 3237694634
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts, Culture, and Humanities
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,365,351
- Expenses
- $1,237,798
- Assets
- $1,205,992
- Liabilities
- $82,920
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ERIC LASSEN (President)
Highest reported compensation
- MARJORIE GILBERG (Executive Dir.): $121,196 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Music forward accelerates life skills for youth using music as the bridge to success. We educate youth about the role of music and culture in social change; invest in music education programs; create performance opportunities for young and emerging musicians; and inspire young people with practical experience in the music industry.
What it reported doing in 2014
Action for the arts grants and recitals action for the arts grants target high-need and under-resourced communities. Grants are intended to connect youth in grades 5 through 12 with opportunities to play music and participate in live music and the arts. Action for the arts grants support school, after-school and community music programs as well as specialized experiences like music therapy and camp-based music programs. The grants program is open to public schools and 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. All grantees are invited to participate in community-wide recitals at their local house of blues venues.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 67% for direct work, and 33% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 69
- Transparency & Controls: 76
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 56
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 69.4%; rating input score 69
- Program expense ratio: 76.5%; rating input score 77
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.54 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 23.5%; rating input score 24; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 9.3%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.97; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 9.8%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 27.6% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 69.4% of revenue deployed · 76.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $947K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $121K · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2010 to 2014
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
- 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 24/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 46/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 58/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization is recorded as not currently operating in California.