Songbirds Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
814791124
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2022
Location
Chattanooga, TN, USA
Phone
4234635022
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Music

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,979,200
Expenses
$1,265,257
Assets
$17,019,727
Liabilities
$596,185

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHN DOOLEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • JOHNNY SMITH (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOHN DOOLEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $95,633 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Songbirds strives to share the transformative experience of music across the south by delivering educational programming, perserving music history, hosting enriching events, and providing concrete resources to emerging artists.

What it reported doing in 2025

The program integrates regional and national artists and students are able to attend free shows and perform, collaborate, and record with these artists. Classes also offer students a forum to discuss social, health, and life issues. Certified music therapists use music to help students work through these issues. Students also work in groups that allow them to create friendships and establish music bonds with other players. This type of group interaction is essential for kids who have experienced bullying, or have developmental disorders such as autism or asperger's. The program was modified to serve students wherever they were working from home or in person at school. We know that music helps kids cope with the devastating demands that the pandemic placed on families. The program allowed over 4,500 kids to have interactive musical experiences with the organization's teachers and other students. We worked with 102 schools and 22 partner programs to train their chorus teachers how to teach our curriculum to their students. We then provided each teacher with a donated set of 25-50 guitars, curriculum books, equipment (picks, strings, bags, tuners), and ongoing support. More than 832 guitars were distributed across the state.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 78
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.8%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 80.5%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $104.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 27th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 36.1%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.45; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.6%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.2% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -20.1% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.8% of revenue deployed · 80.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $96K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 48 of 49 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.