Sandbox Percussion Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
833157939
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2018
Location
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Phone
3026321840
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Music

Reported finances

Revenue
$611,553
Expenses
$606,684
Assets
$296,016
Liabilities
$115,221

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Victor Caccese (Board Member): $54,000 total reported compensation
  • Terrence Sweeney (Board Member): $54,000 total reported compensation
  • Ian Rosenbaum (Board Member): $54,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Sandbox percussion expands the breadth and depth of the percussion form through commissions of original work that broaden representation in chamber music. We create new musical experiences by transforming creative challenges into meaningful art that is shared with our community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Sandbox Percussion is faculty and ensemble in residence at The New School College of the Performing Arts. Throughout the academic year we teach classes covering topics on composer/performer collaboration, entrepreneurship, and rehearsal techniques. We also teach percussion lessons. In the summer we invite students from around the United States and abroad for a week-long percussion chamber music seminar at The New School. Throughout the week, we rehearse and perform some of today's leading percussion repertoire with these students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 63% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 65
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.3%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 75.9%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th 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: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.8%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.49; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.39; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 35.6%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 28.5% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 33.5% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 49.6% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.3% of revenue deployed · 75.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $460K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $54K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.