Newport Festivals Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
274099544
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Manchesterbythesea, MA, USA
Phone
9787687664
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Music

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,957,064
Expenses
$12,972,120
Assets
$28,878,923
Liabilities
$2,071,491

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • ALBERT JAY SWEET (BOARD MEMBER/EXECUTIVE DIR): $353,392 total reported compensation
  • KIRA KARBOCUS (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER(FO): $189,861 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTOPHER CAPOTOSTO (PRODUCER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR): $179,939 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Newport festival foundation's mission is to create moments of hope through the power of music and community.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2025, newport festivals foundation continued to grow its year-round music education programming. 2025 programs included free music lessons, summer camps, instrument donations, free after school music programs, musician relief funds, and partnering with newport festivals artists to create content to be shared free of charge to music education programs across the country. Free festival access was provided for select local nonprofits, high school students and all children under 10.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 68% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.1%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 83.6%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $52.15 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -0.1%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.23; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.6%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.1% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.1% of revenue deployed · 83.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $10.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $353K · 27 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.