Preucil School of Music

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
421057429
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Iowa City, IA, USA
Phone
3193374156
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Performing Arts Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,031,375
Expenses
$1,566,606
Assets
$6,400,610
Liabilities
$86,746

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jason Aird (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Sonja Zeithamel (Director, Trustee): $73,976 total reported compensation
  • Lisa Guttenburg (Assistant Director, Trustee): $68,644 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 Preucil School of Music provides excellence in music and early childhood education based on the Suzuki Philosophy of instruction.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Preucil School of Music provides excellence in music education for hundreds of students annually, from newborns to adults, guided by the philosophy of Shinichi Suzuki, which affirms that all children can develop musical ability much like learning their native language. Through private lessons, group classes, workshops, recitals, and ensemble opportunities, the School fosters ability, confidence, and creativity in a nurturing environment that engages both students and families. Its programs include Suzuki-based instruction, Music Together(R) early childhood classes, and the Preucil Preschool, a play-based fine arts program inspired by the Reggio approach and Suzuki Method, all designed to cultivate imagination, cooperation, and lifelong learning. Believing that music training is life training, the School strives to make its programs accessible to all by keeping tuition affordable and offering financial aid to students with demonstrated need.

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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 81
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 75.7%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $184.89 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 91; 91st 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 84.6%; rating input score 85; 17th 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 22.9%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.09; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.1%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64% of revenue deployed · 75.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 13 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $74K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 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: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.