Salem Philharmonia Orchestra
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 454414062
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2021–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2016
- Location
- Salem, OR, USA
- Phone
- 5033024149
- Rating
- 57
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Symphony Orchestras
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $106,115
- Expenses
- $104,704
- Assets
- $77,650
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Lori Dressel (Board President)
- Kami Hettwer (Executive Director)
People named in this filing
- Lori Dressel (Board President)
- Julie Rodgers (Board Member, Secretary)
- Kurt Chandler (Board Member, Treasurer)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Salem Philharmonia Orchestra provides an opportunity for musicians and audiences in our community to participate in affordable performances of high quality symphonic literature. SPO makes live symphonic music easily accessible to the community at a low cost and gives community members an opportunity to play in a symphony orchestra. Concerts are made affordable to families by providing tickets at no cost to students 17 and under.
What it reported doing in 2025
Presented two concerts specifically tailored for families with younger children. The orchestra presented nine shorter pieces featuring different sections of the orchestra. Children were invited to sit in the orchestra during the performance and were given gift bags. An instrument petting zoo was made available before the concert so children could try the different instruments. The concerts were attended by 543 children and adults.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 63% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and revenue has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 23
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 43
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 23.3%; rating input score 23
- Program expense ratio: 23.6%; rating input score 24
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 1.3%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.74; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.3%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -15.4% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 21.1% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 36.5% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 23.3% of revenue deployed · 23.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 5 filed program accomplishments · $25K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 7 of 8 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
- 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 23/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 24/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part I part ii net assets crosscheck did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 35/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.