Longwood Symphony Orchestra Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042921296
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
West Newton, MA, USA
Phone
6179870100
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Symphony Orchestras

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$202,894
Expenses
$257,186
Assets
$255,955
Liabilities
$2,236

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HANNAH COLLINS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • BRIDGET BRAZEAU (FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • HANNAH COLLINS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $35,100 total reported compensation
  • BRIDGET BRAZEAU (FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $14,569 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 longwood symphony orchestra, the orchestra of boston's medical community, is to perform concerts of musical diversity and excellence, while supporting health-related nonprofit organizations through public performances.

What it reported doing in 2024

The longwood symphony orchestra (the "lso"), the orchestra of boston's healthcare community, performs concerts for the purpose of community outreach and fundraising for health-related nonprofit organizations. The lso's "healing art of music" program has raised money for worthy causes and has been nationally recognized with the league of american orchestras' metlife award for excellence in community engagement and the highest cultural recognition in Massachusetts, the commonwealth award. This year, the lso performed four concerts at new england conservatory's jordan hall, each benefitting a different nonprofit organization, and one summer concert at the hatch memorial shell on the charles river esplanade.off stage, the lso curates "lso on call", a community outreach initiative that brings free chamber music directly to patients across Massachusetts in hospital wards, rehabilitation centers, and health care facilities. This includes recent performances at boston children's hospital, beth israel deaconess medical center, and brigham and women's hospital.through its "community conversations" program, the orchestra promotes community-wide dialogue among today's experts in the arts and sciences on the intersection of music and health. Through this programming, the lso promotes the positive effects of music and the arts on community and individual health.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 79% 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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.1%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 71.9%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.57 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -26.8%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.1% of revenue deployed · 71.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $185K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $35K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.