Play It Forward

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
821708155
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
5037461080
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Music

Reported finances

Revenue
$840,278
Expenses
$869,364
Assets
$419,701
Liabilities
$572

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TYGUE HOWLAND (President)
  • MICHELLE SALVADO (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARIETTA HARRISON (Executive Dir.): $44,071 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Mission Ensuring equal access to the M.A.G.I.C. of Music by providing musical instruments, instruction and inspiring musical opportunities to students in need. Vision We believe and studies show that music education increases Mental Wellness, Agility, Grit, Independence, & Community. We create reliable access to applied music lessons and other avenues of musical learning regardless of income, ability, proximity, or any other barriers that block a child from learning a musical instrument. While Play It Forward works to ensure children can access Music M.A.G.I.C. Mental Wellness, Agility, Grit, Independence and Community, we know that poverty can obstruct access to the kind of instrumental instruction a childs more affluent peers enjoy. We believe providing instrumental lessons and free instruments bridges the gap between desire and opportunity for hundreds of children and creates access to this vital learning opportunity where it once did not exist. Work - We currently serve over 200 ch

What it reported doing in 2024

For the year ended December 31, 2024 the organization operatated the following programs: Keys to LearningPIF serves more than 220 with weekly instruction in piano, guitar andsongwriting which totals 8000 lessons given per year. Each student is also gifted with a free instrument to keep for life.70% of students in Keys to Learning programs live at or below the federal poverty level. They attend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Kairos PDX and Boise-Eliot/Humboldt elementary schools in N & NE Portland.We provide more than 8,000 lessons annually to more than 200 students per year.Instruments for ChangePIF facilitated the donation of instruments to music education programs and schoolsthroughout rural Oregon and SW Washington.Population ServeSummer Songwriting CampIn Summer 2024, we expanded our contracts to include OMSI in order to provide a musical science camp, which served 180 children, who learned the technical skills and science behind building instruments & songwriting, blending creativity with hands-on learning. Additionally, we served summer songwriting camp activities of 150 children in Boise-Eliot/Humboldt elementary school.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 69% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 66% for direct work, and 34% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 77.2%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.58 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

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: 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.5%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.48; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.1%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 35.5% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21.9% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.7% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80% of revenue deployed · 77.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $671K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $44K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 53/100.