Kansas City Symphony

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
431297475
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Kansas City, MO, USA
Phone
8164711100
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Symphony Orchestras

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$21,089,139
Expenses
$27,168,596
Assets
$90,639,994
Liabilities
$7,963,925

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

31 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Daniel Beckley (Chief Executive Officer)

Highest reported compensation

  • Daniel Beckley (Chief Executive Officer): $414,289 total reported compensation
  • Jun Iwasaki (Concertmaster): $294,432 total reported compensation
  • Stirling Trent (Associate Concertmaster): $175,314 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Its mission is to perform great performances for greater audiences. The Kansas city symphony will achieve this mission by: - developing an uncompromising performance standard. - advancing the profile and value of the orchestra locally, nationally and internationally. - developing the financial resources to allow the orchestra to thrive today and tomorrow. - creating an internal culture that stimulates effective relationships within and between board, staff and musicians. - developing audiences and partnerships that allow the orchestra to thrive today and tomorrow.

What it reported doing in 2024

During the 2025 fiscal year, the Kansas City Symphony offered 201 performances of 83 different programs across the full range of classical, pops, film, and other repertoire. In addition, the Symphony served as the pit orchestra in 64 performances of eight different programs for the Kansas City Ballet and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Symphony audiences hailed from 1,512 communities in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and 10 foreign countries. In total, the Kansas City Symphony reached more than 209,000 people in person during the 2024/25 season. Classical audiences numbered 45,745, Pops totaled 18,855 and Family drew 2,109. Holiday programs attracted 17,307 to nine performances of Christmas Festival and Handel's Messiah. Film + Live Orchestra and special programs were especially popular with 40,653 attending 34 performances of 17 programs, including a concert featuring Ben Folds and films from the "Harry Potter" series. The Happy Hour series of informal chamber music programs had enthusiastic crowds totaling 7,335 at the four free concerts. Free outdoor Mobile Music Box neighborhood concerts introduced new audiences to the artistry of Symphony musicians, with 50 concerts reaching 10,747 people in 43 ZIP codes across Greater Kansas City. A Memorial Day weekend civic tradition, Bank of America Celebration at the Station delighted the crowd of 15,000 as they gathered between Kansas City's Union Station and Liberty Memorial. The program was broadcast live on Kansas City PBS and later rebroadcast on public television stations throughout the region. In addition, the Symphony served as the featured orchestra for Symphony in the Flint Hills, an annual outdoor concert on the Kansas plains. With an ongoing commitment to education, the Symphony's youth concerts served 27,063 students and teachers from 171 schools in 33 districts across 73 communities, in addition to 271 homeschool groups, as they participated in Young People's Concerts, Link Up, and KinderKonzerts. Numerous other Symphony education programs also helped meet the community need for high quality music education experiences, reaching nearly 32,000 young people overall.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 56
  • Accountability: 80
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 82.4%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.69 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 73.9%; rating input score 74; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -28.8%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.34; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.1%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 82.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 23 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $22.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $414K · 31 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2M reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.