Meadowmount School of Music

Legal name: Society for Strings Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131686434
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Westport, New York, USA
Phone
(518) 962-2400
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Performing Arts Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,945,913
Expenses
$1,862,817
Assets
$7,231,626
Liabilities
$75,667

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HANS JORGEN JENSEN (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • GENEVIEVE TWOMEY (EXECUTIVE DI): $55,603 total reported compensation
  • ANN SETZER (SECRETARY): $39,685 total reported compensation
  • HANS JORGEN JENSEN (PRESIDENT): $37,360 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 mission of the Society for Strings is to encourage, promote, and aid the artistic development of musicians on stringed instruments, specifically through a summer school devoted exclusively to instruction for stringed instruments, and to promote to the general public an appreciation of the playing of stringed instruments.

What it reported doing in 2024

The society for strings operates the meadowmount school of music. This is a seven-week summer program for violinists, violists, and cellists. Musicians ages 10-30 from around the world gather at the school's campus in the adirondack mountains in northern New York to immerse themselves in an environment where they can focus on personal and artistic development through intensive training with leading faculty, individual practice, chamber music, and performance opportunities. Meadowmount has long been regarded as the premier destination for young musicians and has helped create some of the greatest artists of our time.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 62% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 97
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99.6%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 93.4%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $203.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.3%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.88; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.1%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 99.6% of revenue deployed · 93.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $56K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.