Kingston Chamber Music Festival At The University of Rhode Island Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
050475910
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2013
Location
Kingston, RI, USA
Phone
4012368880
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$313,966
Expenses
$272,804
Assets
$1,000,660
Liabilities
$9,671

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Valerie Cookson-Botto (Executive Director)
  • Gary Brownell (President)
  • Lawrence Grebstein (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Valerie Cookson-Botto (Executive Director): $62,500 total reported compensation
  • Natalie Zhu (Artistic Director): $29,500 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of the Kingston Chamber Music Festival is to engage audiences with outstanding chamber music; to provide educational and outreach programs to students; and to present concerts at affordable prices.

What it reported doing in 2024

Produced and presented the 37th Season of the Kingston Chamber Music Festival including six concerts in Edwards Hall at the University of Rhode Island and one concert at the Jamestown Arts Center. Educational and community outreach programming included masterclasses, student showcase performances, intergenerational lecture demonstration, pop up mini concerts in Wakefield, and the development and launch of the Strings Advancement Program at South Kingstown High School.

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 98% 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

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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 83
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.4%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 83.3%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $28.81 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th 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: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.1%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.67; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 33.7%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.4% of revenue deployed · 83.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 16 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $227K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $62K · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.