Pan American Symphony Orchestra

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521710981
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2025904317
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Music

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$209,917
Expenses
$235,314
Assets
$28,281
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Maureen Dunn (President and Treasurer)
  • Anastasia Orfanoudis (Vice-President)

People named in this filing

  • Maureen Dunn (President and Treasurer)
  • Anastasia Orfanoudis (Vice-President)
  • Linda Macri (Secretary)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Provides the Washington, DC public regular, high-quality performances of symphonic repertoire with an emphasis on contemporary Latin American compositions, showcases Latino music talent, and educates the public about the varied music styles in Latin American culture. Also, produces an annual Tango Festival with guest artists and a finale tango show.

What it reported doing in 2025

The Pan American Symphony Orchestra performs 6-8 orchestral concerts a year that highlights music by Latin American composers, and produces an annual Tango Festival with small concerts, a dance party and dance classes. Performances take place at the Terrace Theater of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Embassy of Argentina, the Lisner Auditorium and various other venues in the District of Columbia. In 2025 the orchestra performed at The Barns at Wolf Trap, the Library of Congress, in addition to the Kennedy Center and the Embassy of Argentina. The orchestra also performed a concert of symphonic music from Spain.

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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 95
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 91.9%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $54.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 75; 75th 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: -12.1%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.12; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.2% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -11.8% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 91.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $216K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.