Sarasota Music Conservatory Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 454180504
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2019
- Location
- Sarasota, FL, USA
- Phone
- 9419325707
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts, Culture, and Humanities
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $522,250
- Expenses
- $394,709
- Assets
- $191,979
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LENA CAMBIS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
- DIANE HOWARD (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- LENA CAMBIS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $73,975 total reported compensation
- SEAN O'NEIL (SECRETARY): $37,265 total reported compensation
- TOM PURVIANCE (DIRECTOR): $703 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Sarasota music conservatory provides music performance programs to the children of our community. Through private lessons, masterclasses, recitals, and interaction between world class professional musicians and aspiring young talents, we bring to the community the only music conservatory in the area. Based in downtown sarasota, and serving children of our community, smc is a one of a kind non-profit organization that provides extraordinary musical opportunities to exceptional student-musicians. Smc brings to our community the best educational, musical and social experience through a highly qualified and experienced faculty, excellent music instruction, appropriate leadership programs, and ample community outreach. We engage and inspire music students through excellence in educational, artistic, and cultural programs; and nurture talent, self-confidence, and discipline through the learning of music.
What it reported doing in 2025
Sarasota music conservatory provides children of its community with comprehensive private music lessons taught by professional classical musicians. Each of the faculty members must have a minimum of a master's degree in music performance in the instrument or discipline they teach. Sarasota music conservatory's music lessons are tailored to each student's needs. The organization provides need-based scholarships. In the past, our private senior students have successfully auditioned for vanderbilt university, boston conservatory, miami university and the frost conservatory of music.
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 99% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 66
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 68
- Sustainability: 55
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 62.8%; rating input score 63
- Program expense ratio: 82.8%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 24.4%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.49; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 28.4%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 16.7% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 17.6% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 20.9% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 62.8% of revenue deployed · 82.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $327K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $74K · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.