Society for Preservation & Encourmt of Barbershop Quartet Singing Amer

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
226079249
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Fairfax, VA, USA
Phone
7032739826
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Singing, Choral

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$219,190
Expenses
$197,796
Assets
$237,866
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Steve Skolnick (President)
  • Mike Fasano (Executive Vice President)
  • Steve Kirsch (Immediate Past President)

People named in this filing

  • Sheryl Berlin (Board Member at Large)
  • Laura Packer (Board Member at Large)
  • Anne Bureau (Board Member at Large)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The 1700 artist/members of the Mid-Atlantic District of the Barbershop Harmony Society bring joy to the lives of those we touch. The District brings together people of all ages and experience, cultivates extraordinary singing and showmanship, promotes fellowship and camaraderie, and makes a difference in people's lives. Through public performance, vocal instruction, support of music education at all age levels in communities from New York to Virginia, we are making the music that's making a difference.

What it reported doing in 2025

Music Education: Dozens of highly qualified volunteers conduct educational programs targeted at all age levels. The largest program, Harmony College East (HCE), offering more than 40 classes and seminars during a 3-day weekend event attended by more than 200 men and women of all ages. Students, including music educators, directors, arrangers and enthusiasts, learn singing, quarteting, composition, arranging, show production and directors sharpen their directing skills. This year, twelve HCE full scholarships were provided to music educators. Partial scholarships were provided to six high achieving quartets preparing for the BHS International Convention. Coaching support was provided through the year to quartets and chapter choruses through a grant program that offsets a portion of the coach's expenses. The District has a strong youth barbershop program that encourages youth quartets and ensembles through music educator engagement, coaching and Youth Adjudications. For 2025, the District provided support for 5 youth harmony events. The District also provided 3 activity grants to support Chapter activities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 86% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 89% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.1%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 94.9%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: $111.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 27%; rating input score 27; 42nd 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.8%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.2; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -5.7% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.4% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.1% of revenue deployed · 94.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $188K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.