Old Town School of Folk Music

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362373635
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
7737286000
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Performing Arts Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$15,966,532
Expenses
$15,804,411
Assets
$27,587,958
Liabilities
$2,698,154

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TROY ANDERSON (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • TROY ANDERSON (CEO): $271,934 total reported compensation
  • MARY JANE DREWS (DIR. OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT): $264,582 total reported compensation
  • TROY HANSBROUGH (SR DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING): $157,501 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The old town school began as a dream of chicago political progressives win stracke, dawn greening, frank hamilton, and in a supporting role, studs terkel. The school's history involves alumni steve goodman, john prine, bonnie koloc and roger mcguinn, and performers like pete seeger, big bill broonzy, odetta, and mahalia jackson. Today, old town school of folk music is the largest community music school in the us, the largest employer of teaching artists and an international model for community music and movement.

What it reported doing in 2025

Outreach: world music programming - the world music wednesday series annually presents 40 international artists co-produced with dozens of local, national and international partners. During 2025, world music wednesdays hosted 5,820 concert attendees. Community ventures: during 2025, our cps partnerships served 1,615 in 18 schools. Participation in ingenuity, inc. And embarc added service to an additional 368 children in 10 schools. 1,265 children were served through our expanded wiggleworms-in-residence programming: 501 early childhood students at carole robertson center's three main sites and 273 at four new sites in north lawndale. Summer programming served 190 and new in-school programming served 301. Our south and west side music moves chicago program provides classes in a variety of disciplines, apprenticeship opportunities, and liberatory social justice perspectives to youth and adults. Music moves served 7,382 participants during 2025, engaged 20 organizational partners and employed 31 teaching artists and 10 arts activators. A total of 4,026 cps students attended 17 field trip concerts at our lincoln square campus.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 70% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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.
  • 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: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.5%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 77.2%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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; 64th 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: 1%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.75; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.1%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.5% of revenue deployed · 77.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 24 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $12.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $272K · 32 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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.
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 47/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.