Sacred Harp Publishing Company Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237206208
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Huntsville, AL, USA
Phone
7018851982
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$98,685
Expenses
$122,805
Assets
$852,190
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JESSE P KARLSBERG (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MICHAEL HINTON (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • KAREN ROLLINS (MEMBER)
  • KATHY WILLIAMS (MEMBER)
  • LISA BALLINGER GEIST (MEMBER)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Publishers of the sacred harp, 1991 edition, the sacred harp publishing company promotes traditional sacred harp singing, community, and culture across the united states and around the world

What it reported doing in 2025

Revision and publication of the sacred harp: 2025 edition. In 2025, the sacred harp publishing company completed a multi-year project to issue a newly-revised edition of the sacred harp tunebook. This project was led by a volunteer committee that oversaw selection and editing of compositions, typesetting, and printing and publication. The project culminated in a free public event with a scholarly symposium and two-day singing in atlanta, Georgia.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 71% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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 revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 95
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 92.6%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -24.4%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.94; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 89.4% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -97.7% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 92.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $114K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $124K reported
  • Consistency: 18 of 19 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.