Musicares Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
954470909
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Santa Monica, CA, USA
Phone
3103923777
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Music

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$28,826,852
Expenses
$25,153,843
Assets
$38,379,586
Liabilities
$1,336,674

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HARVEY MASON JR (CEO)
  • LAURA SEGURA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (TO 5/25))

Highest reported compensation

  • LAURA SEGURA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (TO 5/25)): $427,813 total reported compensation
  • RYAN DONAHUE (SR. MANAGING DIRECTOR): $229,477 total reported compensation
  • THERESA WOLTERS (VP (TO 5/25), EXEC DIR (FROM 5/25)): $225,655 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Musicares helps the humans behind the music because music gives so much to the world. Musicares provides a safety net of critical health and welfare services to the music community in three key areas: mental health & addiction recovery: support, referrals, and emergency financial assistance for counseling, psychiatric care, inpatient treatment, coaching, intensive outpatient care, sober living, and more.health services: financial assistance during medical crises and preventive services such as dental and medical screenings, hearing clinics, vocal health workshops, and assistance obtaining low-cost health insurance.human services: support for basic living expenses like rent, utilities, car payments and insurance premiums in times of hardship, plus programs addressing affordable housing, career development, legal issues, and senior services.

What it reported doing in 2024

Financial assistance: musicares provides up to $10,000 annually for emergency basic living, medical, or other needs with a lifetime maximum of $20,000. Under extraordinary circumstances, grants may be extended to $25,000 based upon a unique need. Assistance is provided to recording industry personnel, including creative and technical personnel (i.e., musicians, composers, engineers, producers, etc.), music business staff (i.e., record label staff, management companies, entertainment attorneys, music retailers), and other members of the music community who have been employed in the industry for at least five years or who have credits on six commercially released singles. These grants are made available to music people facing an unforeseen medical, personal, or financial crisis. This can include payments for health care professionals and prescriptions, rent/mortgage payments, health insurance premiums, and costs for other basic living support services. Through its community outreach and education programs, the foundation also provides workshops, seminars, and individual consultations to members of the music community on topics related to general health and human service needs. It also provides ideas and resources for proactively addressing those issues.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 81% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.4%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 87.9%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $22.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Pass
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 41st 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; 66th 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: 12.7%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.53; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.6%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.4% of revenue deployed · 87.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $22.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $428K · 27 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.1M reported
  • Consistency: 45 of 45 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.