Sing for Hope Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010856384
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2129665955
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Music

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,081,130
Expenses
$3,714,920
Assets
$3,685,480
Liabilities
$134,696

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • RICHARD ROBERTSON (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $164,621 total reported compensation
  • MONICA YUNUS (CO-FOUNDING DIRECTOR): $155,514 total reported compensation
  • CAMILLE ZAMORA (CO-FOUNDING DIRECTOR): $117,423 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Sing for hope harnesses the power of the arts to create a better world. Our creative programs bring hope, healing, and connection to millions of people in hospitals, schools, care facilities, and public spaces worldwide. A non-profit organization founded in New York city in response to the events of 9/11, sing for hope partners with hundreds of community-based organizations, mobilizes thousands of artists in creative service, and produces artist-created sing for hope pianos across the united states and around the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Sing for hope's cultural diplomacy program provides creative advocacy, leadership, and program design that drive the integration of the arts in policy, peace-building, and global convenings on social change. In addition to curating the first-ever arts panel at the skoll world forum for social entrepreneurship at oxford university, sing for hope has presented cultural diplomacy programming for organizations including aspen ideas festival, harvard university, the fletcher school at tufts university, the kennedy center, and the united nations, where sfh has partnered with unicef and the high-level political forum since 2019. Sing for hope is the official cultural partner of the world summit of nobel peace laureates.sing for hope's creative workforce development program is the engine that powers all of our programming through a sustainable, artist-centered approach to public health, creative aging, and community wellbeing. The program supports artists as creative placemakers and arts-in-health practitioners in an approach that fosters connection, safety, and belonging. In collaboration with expert trainers and researchers, artist partners gain the tools to co-create inclusive arts interventions across care and community settings, while deepening their own creative practice. Sing for hope artist partners are vital collaborators who uplift the communities they serve and, in turn, enrich their artistry through shared moments of healing, joy, and meaning.sing for hope champions art for all because we believe the arts have an unmatched capacity to uplift, unite, and heal. Learn more at singforhope.org.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 60% 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

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 77.9%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.41 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 92%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -78.5%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.99; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.8%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.8% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 77.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $165K · 27 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.