Socal Symphony Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237231096
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2021
Location
Culver City, CA, USA
Phone
2133004149
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Symphony Orchestras

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$239,817
Expenses
$289,310
Assets
$206,108
Liabilities
$7,962

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Stephen Turk (President, Director)
  • Cliff Marcussen (Vice President, Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Clyde Mitchell (Music Director - Conductor, Culver City): $10,000 total reported compensation
  • Steven Allen Fox (Music Director - Conductor, Marina del Rey): $7,450 total reported compensation
  • Mary Lou Basaraba (Director): $1,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Culver City Symphony Orchestra strives to enlighten and inspire the diverse citizenry of Culver City and the Los Angeles area through the presentation of orchestral music concerts, to present works of American composers, and to actively support aspiring young musicians though the Orchestra's annual Parness Concerto Competition.

What it reported doing in 2024

SoCal Symphony Society presents the Culver City Symphony Orchestra's annual winter concert season. During 2024-25 the Orchestra presented 4 concerts in Culver City, celebrating the 60th anniversary of our first concert in 1965 and featuring symphonic music and concertos from the 18th Century through to contemporary works, led by Music Director-Conductor Clyde Mitchell. The Orchestra has a long history of performing works by diverse and underserved groups and music of local composers, and our 2024-25 programming presented a broad spectrum of eras, styles and origins. In the summer, as the Marina del Rey Summer Symphony, we are the resident orchestra of the Marina Summer Concerts presented in conjunction with Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors. Music Director-Conductor Steven Allen Fox led the Orchestra in two concerts including a live-to-film movie and a collaboration with SoCal Chorale. We were once again voted the Best Live Music Event in The Argonaut's Best of the Westside reader poll. We support aspiring young musicians from pre-teen to age twenty-five through the Orchestra-sponsored Parness Concerto Competition.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 88% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 94.4%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -20.6%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.71; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.4%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 94.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $273K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $10K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2017 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.