Settlement Music School of Philadelphia

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
231352676
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Phone
2153202600
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Performing Arts Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,483,141
Expenses
$14,345,623
Assets
$39,217,141
Liabilities
$3,306,734

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

Leadership & pay

34 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HELEN EATON (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)
  • DANA BROWN (PRESIDENT)
  • BARBARA MENIN (VICE PRESIDENT (WGB))
  • MARY BETH KRAMER (VICE PRESIDENT (KNE))
  • NATE BRONSTEIN (VICE PRESIDENT (MLC))
  • GUISSOU DABIRI (VICE PRESIDENT (WFB))

Highest reported compensation

  • HELEN EATON (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $268,851 total reported compensation
  • PATRICK LEITER (CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER): $148,816 total reported compensation
  • AMELIA SCHMERTZ (CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER): $132,734 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Settlement music school's mission is to provide the highest quality instruction in music and the related arts to children and adults, without regard to age, race or financial circumstances. Settlement's broad range of programs, taught by highly credentialed and dedicated faculty, help students of all ages achieve artistic, educational, and social goals. Settlement offers more than 11,000 weekly services of music and arts instruction in more than 20 instruments, group classes, choirs, chamber groups, jazz ensembles, orchestra, arts therapy, dance, and creative movement, both onsite and online at five community branches and online, and with more than 70 community partnerships. We are leading the nation in increasing access to music education and pioneering tools to educate tomorrow's children.

What it reported doing in 2024

Settlement is the lead partner of the pmay artists initiative, since 2017 collaborating with six youth music organizations to increase diversity in the professional classical music field. Pmay artists are a cohort of students coming from historically excluded or financially disadvantaged backgrounds, ranging from 5th-12th grade, who receive all the support necessary to become professional classical musicians. Since its inception, pmay artists have received extensive audition, lesson, and instrument loan assistance that has enabled them to be accepted into top music schools and conservatories, including carnegie mellon university, new england conservatory of music, cleveland institute of music, and boston university, with scholarship and financial aid offers of up to $12 million.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 78% for direct work, and 22% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - 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: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.3%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 88.8%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.08 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 22.4%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.73; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.1%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.3% of revenue deployed · 88.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $12.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $269K · 34 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $104K reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 42 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 46/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 50/100.