Palm Springs International Piano Competition

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
330025613
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Palm Springs, CA, USA
Phone
7607732575
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$367,048
Expenses
$619,417
Assets
$711,477
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Joe Giarrusso (President)
  • Andrea Laguni (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • DAVID BURNETT (Director)
  • DR ELIZABETH SMALLEY (Secretary)
  • WALTER GENDELL (Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of the palm springs international piano competition is to excite, educate, and engage the community at large with the joy of classical piano by presenting, promoting, and nurturing classical music through live piano performance including international competitions, concerts, and local education outreach programs for all ages.

What it reported doing in 2024

Between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025 Palm Springs International Piano Competition presented its triennial International Competition. Live rounds for preliminary, semi-final and concerto semi-final were offered free of charge. This allowed students, seniors and other community members to experience this week-long competition free of charge. To better accommodate senior citzens, we offered bussing to the venue. More than 2,000 people attended over the week. For the Concerto Finals, more than 300 tickets were offered to schools, senior citzens and low-income families. Prior to the competition, we held three concerts featuring world-renowned pianists. At each concert, complimentary tickets were provided to the community's senior citzens and high school students. In addition to the public concerts, private in-school concerts were offered for schools within the Palm Springs Unified and Desert Sands Unified School Districts. More than 500 elementary and high school students attended concerts at their school. A post-concert Q & A session allowed students to better understand the educational requirements for a career in music, music performance and music education. We have seen marked growth in our hands-on keyboard classes. Ten courses provided more than 300 hours of instruction to elementary and middle school-aged students, including those students participating in a home school setting. One session was offered to middle school students in Indio. This was the initial introduction to music, specifically piano, for all of the 18 participants. Volunteers are integral to the success of our programming. Approximately 56 volunteers provided more than 425 hours during the year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 75.2%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th 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 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -68.8%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.15; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 75.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $466K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 19 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.