Pioneer Valley Symphony Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
046111759
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019
Location
Greenfield, MA, USA
Phone
4137733664
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Symphony Orchestras

Reported finances

Revenue
$295,194
Expenses
$503,154
Assets
$374,502
Liabilities
$255,121

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Janna Walters-Gidson (Executive Director - Past)
  • Joanna Walker (Executive Director)
  • Kara Peterman (President)
  • Cecilia R Berger (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Janna Walters-Gidson (Executive Director - Past): $32,271 total reported compensation
  • Joanna Walker (Executive Director): $29,668 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Pioneer Valley Symphony connects, inspires and enhances our community by providing opportunities to appreciate, make, and learn about music.

What it reported doing in 2024

Presented orchestral and choral concerts and provided music instruction.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 67% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 15
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 68.2%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 19th 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; 63rd 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: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -70.4%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.74; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.68; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.3%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.4% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.1% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 68.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $343K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $32K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.