Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
952500091
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Vista, CA, USA
Phone
7609185804
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Music Groups, Bands, Ensembles

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,420,078
Expenses
$1,390,730
Assets
$793,066
Liabilities
$102,855

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ZACHARY CHRISTY (Vice President)
  • CATHY OLINGER (President)

People named in this filing

  • TOM PLUNKETT (VP-AWARDS)
  • AMI GARVIN (VP FESTIVALS)
  • ZACHARY CHRISTY (Vice President)

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

To support the teaching of instrumental music at all grade levels in southern California by providing educational guidance and expertise to music educators and students. We accomplish this through conferences/clinics, festival/field championships, parades, honor groups, concerts for students in southern California.

What it reported doing in 2025

Field adjudication/championship - field adjudication performs similar functions to those of parade adjudication, but as they apply to competitive marching events held on the football field. Of more recent origin, this area of activity has been growing in popularity among school bands in southern California. Local tournament hosts contract with scsboa to provide adjudication that is consistent with the goals of music education and to ensure to potential entrants that such goals will guide the planning and execution of the event. In recognition of the popularity of field performance scsboa provides for the membership a season-culminating championship event administered directly by the association for the purpose of acknowledging outstanding achievement while maintaning adherence to the philosophical tenets of music education.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 93% 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

SUPPORTED - 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: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.4%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 93.3%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • 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: 2.1%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.57; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.4% of revenue deployed · 93.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 6 filed program accomplishments · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.