Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 396023436
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2021
- Location
- Milwaukee, WI, USA
- Phone
- 4142916010
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Symphony Orchestras
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $19,800,512
- Expenses
- $23,482,388
- Assets
- $145,170,901
- Liabilities
- $8,432,887
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
47 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MARK NIEHAUS (PRESIDENT & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- MARK NIEHAUS (PRESIDENT & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $398,522 total reported compensation
- KEN-DAVID MASUR (MUSIC DIRECTOR): $338,312 total reported compensation
- TOM LINDOW (VP AND CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $198,805 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 milwaukee symphony orchestra, inc. ("mso") reaches out to diverse audiences through concert performances and nationally recognized education and outreach programs. All programs are guided by the mso family shared vision which states that the mso exists for three purposes: to comfort, educate, entertain and exhilarate the human soul through events of cultural significance, relevance and artistic challenge; to embrace, preserve and foster our musical heritage; and to enhance the vibrancy of our community.
What it reported doing in 2024
The milwaukee symphony orchestra, led by music director ken-david masur, is among the finest orchestras in the nation and the largest cultural institution in Wisconsin. Since its inception in 1959, the mso has found innovative ways to give music a home in the region, develop music appreciation and talent among area youth, and raise the national reputation of milwaukee.the mso's full-time professional musicians perform over 135 classics, pops, family, education, and community concerts each season in venues throughout the state. A pioneer among american orchestras, the mso has performed world and american premieres of works by john adams, roberto sierra, philip glass, geoffrey gordon, marc neikrug, camille ppin, matthias pintscher, and dobrinka tabakova, as well as garnered national recognition as the first american orchestra to offer live recordings on itunes.in january of 2021, the mso completed a years-long project to restore and renovate a former movie palace in the heart of downtown milwaukee. The bradley symphony center officially opened to audiences in october 2021. This project has sparked a renewal on west Wisconsin avenue and continues to be a catalyst in the community.the mso's standard of excellence extends beyond the concert hall and into the community, reaching more than 30,000 children and their families through its arts in community education (ace) program, youth and teen concerts, family series, and meet the music pre-concert talks. Celebrating its 35th year, the nationally recognized ace program integrates arts education across all subjects and disciplines, providing opportunities for students when budget cuts may eliminate arts programming. The program provides lesson plans and supporting materials, classroom visits from mso musician ensembles and artists from local organizations, and an mso concert tailored to each grade level. This season, more than 5,900 students and 500 teachers and faculty are expected to participate in ace both in person and in a virtual format.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 65% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 78
- Accountability: 96
- Sustainability: 42
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 92.6%; rating input score 93
- Program expense ratio: 77.8%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.84 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 88.2%; rating input score 88; 2nd 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: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 94.3%; rating input score 94; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- 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: -18.6%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.18; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.2%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 92.6% of revenue deployed · 77.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 33 of 35 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $18.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $399K · 47 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.2M reported
- Consistency: 32 of 34 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 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.
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.