Skagit Symphony

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911649210
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2013
Location
Mount Vernon, WA, USA
Phone
3608489336
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Symphony Orchestras

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$413,460
Expenses
$379,523
Assets
$447,466
Liabilities
$41,538

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Marna Fletcher (Executive Director)
  • Caroline Omdal (Executive Director)
  • Al Call (Past President)
  • Ray Horak (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Marna Fletcher (Executive Director): $28,946 total reported compensation
  • Caroline Omdal (Executive Director): $26,385 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Skagit Symphony's mission is to present exceptional orchestral experiences to a growing and inclusive audience; to enrich, entertain, educate, and inspire our community through music.

What it reported doing in 2024

MUSIC EDUCATION PROGRAM: SCHOOL AND FAMILY CONCERT Series. We were delighted to continue our popular School and Family Concert series in January 2025, entertaining and educating fifth grade students from all area school districts and families from throughout the region. This series presented a lively introduction to the instruments and music of the orchestra, this year featuring "The Composer is Dead". We were thrilled to include Spanish translation provided by our guest conductor, Sebastian Serrano-Ayala; Spanish-speaking kids in the audiences were electrified! The Family concert was preceded by our Children's Music Fair with hands-on music activities and opportunities for families to talk with our musicians and see their instruments up close.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 62% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63.5%; rating input score 63
  • Program expense ratio: 67.2%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.2%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.18; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.6%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 63.5% of revenue deployed · 67.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $255K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $29K · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 44 of 44 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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 17/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.