Rushmore Music Festival

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
473451302
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Rapid City, SD, USA
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$130,141
Expenses
$93,849
Assets
$301,243
Liabilities
$3,759

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Dr Brett Walfish (President and Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • Dr Brett Walfish (President and Executive Director)
  • Dr Katie Smirnova (Artistic Director and Board Secreta)
  • Scott Schutz (Board of Directors)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The Rushmore Music Festival promotes access to musical excellence through education and performance to enrich the cultural landscape in our community and beyond.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Rushmore Music Festivals flagship program is the intensive Young Artist Fellowship which takes place in the heart of the Black Hills in Rapid City South Dakota. With a strong focus that combines individual technical mastery and artistic growth rooted in communication the Festival fosters a challenging immersive musical environment. Over the course of 3 or 6 weeks students will have multiple solo chamber and Conductorless Chamber Orchestra performance opportunities on campus and throughout the community. Studio classes distinguished guest artist masterclasses and competitions provide students with high and low-stress environments to build and refine their performance skills. Throughout this 6-week period the organization presents multiple concerts every week providing the local community and online audiences opportunities to enrich their lives with professional and student chamber music performances

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

SUPPORTED - 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64.9%; rating input score 65
  • Program expense ratio: 90.1%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 27.9%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.21; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -36.2% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 32.6% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64.9% of revenue deployed · 90.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $85K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.