Phoenix Youth Symphony Orchestra Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
866051136
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Symphony Orchestras

Reported finances

Revenue
$743,391
Expenses
$679,438
Assets
$1,294,394
Liabilities
$27,989

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • THOMAS WAITE PHD (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MATTHEW KASPER (EX OFFICIO/D): $127,110 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Pys provides opportunities to young people to pursue excellence through educational, experiential and creative music performance while touching the lives of others in the community

What it reported doing in 2024

Orchestral training and music appreciation - for over 50 years, pys programs have provided music education, instrumental and performance training of the highest quality to youth in the greater phoenix metropolitan area. Pys encourages the appreciation of and participation in symphonic music by not only providing high quality training through six ensembles but also sponsoring an annual music competition for all non- professional music students in grades 6 through 12 and providing a cultural enrichment program that gives teachers in grades 3 through 6 a listening guide to review with their students prior to attending pys concerts to enable the teachers and students to better understand and appreciate the musical compositions that will be played in the pys concerts they are going to attend.

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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.5%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 76.6%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.6%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.91; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18.7%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.9% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.5% of revenue deployed · 76.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $521K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $127K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.