South Coast Symphony

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
330721401
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Santa Ana, CA, USA
Phone
7147318079
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Symphony Orchestras

Reported finances

Revenue
$254,950
Expenses
$263,911
Assets
$59,502
Liabilities
$15,000

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Barry Silverman (CEO)
  • Ronald Jagner (President,Endow)
  • Millard Roth (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Barry Silverman (CEO): $27,863 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Founded in 1996, The South Coast Symphony, the unstuffy symphony, is a resident orchestra for South Orange County. The seventy member Symphony services South Orange County's fifteen diverse communities with a professional, accessible and affordable symphonic musical experience. The Symphony's eclectic programming is designed to entertain and educate while also attracting a whole new generation of patrons. The Symphony performs a wider variety of orchestral literature from the classics and opera to light classics, Broadway and pops. The Symphony's educational outreach programs, Koncerts for Kids and Young Stars of the Future are an integral part of our mission to provide cultural opportunities and experiences for our youth.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Symphony's education outreach programs, Koncert for Kids, performs for over 3,000 fourth grade students and their teachers from throughout Central and South Orange County. To date, the Symphony has performed for over 50,000 students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 73% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 78
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.6%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 89.4%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 9th 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: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.5%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.23; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.6%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.6% of revenue deployed · 89.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $236K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $28K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 19 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.