Reverb Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
201042256
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Portland, ME, USA
Phone
7187817983
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,723,159
Expenses
$7,240,735
Assets
$6,730,145
Liabilities
$133,563

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SULLIVAN LAUREN (CO-DIRECTOR/PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • GARDNER ADAM (CO-DIRECTOR): $168,072 total reported compensation
  • SULLIVAN LAUREN (CO-DIRECTOR/PRESIDENT): $168,072 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Deeply rooted within the music and environmental communities, reverb educates and engages musicians and their fans to take action toward a more sustainable future.

What it reported doing in 2025

During 2025, reverb's major program accomplishment areas were connected to three marquis programs and artists: billie eilish tour, dead & company at the sphere and the tame impala tour.reverb had the honor of again joining forces with billie eilish, who we began working with in 2020. Billie is an incredible activist and her passion for the environment coalesced into a fantastic reverb action program both in the front-of-house and backstage on her "hit me hard and soft" tour. The statistics and actions have been remarkable. On billie's tour over 215,000+ total fan actions we taken on-site; over $13.3 million was raised to support nonprofit organizations, environmental justice and climate projects through billie's "changemaker" ticket fund as a way to collaborate with fans to raise money for nonprofits addressing the climate crisis, food insecurity and climate justice issues which deeply align with reverb's core values and mission. Reverb was honored to have been entrusted by billie and her team to steward the distribution of those funds as grants for the north american leg of her tour; 1,746 volunteers donated over 3,800 hours to help fellow fans take action for people and the planet. Additionally, reverb helped 135,260 single use plastic water bottles be avoided through our #rocknrefill program with partner nalgene; over 36,000 fans pledged to go plant-based with nonprofit partner support + feed. In acknowledgement of the climate impact of touring, billie supported reverb's climate project portfolio which is comprised of projects and organizations that work to measurably reduce greenhouse gas pollution, address climate change, restore nature and advance decarbonization efforts in music all with the goal of addressing the complex challenges of the climate crisis.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 87% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 41% for direct work, and 59% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 94
  • Transparency & Controls: 62
  • Accountability: 77
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 91.9%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $38.09 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 85.3%; rating input score 85; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -26.5%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.93; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.6%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.5% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.2% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 91.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $6.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $168K · 5 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 38 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 121 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 119 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.