Sphinx Organization Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 383283759
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Detroit, MI, USA
- Phone
- 3135425200
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Music
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $9,240,214
- Expenses
- $7,306,621
- Assets
- $25,825,204
- Liabilities
- $143,819
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
23 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- AFA S DWORKIN (PRES./ARTIST): $598,775 total reported compensation
- ANDRE DOWELL (CHIEF PROGRA): $250,982 total reported compensation
- ACHIA FLOYD (DIR FOUND RE): $199,533 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Transforming lives through the power of the arts.
What it reported doing in 2025
Artist development: naas, sphinx competition (oldest program), soloist program, college- bound/music assistance fund/instrument fund. The sphinx competition identifies and empowers top young musicians in the country by offering performance, competition and professional development opportunities, along with collaboration and mentorship from members of the professional sphinx symphony orchestra. The artist development program area is aimed at engaging and promoting the top young talent and providing them with a professional audition/exposure experience, as well as access to mentorship, scholarship opportunities, fine instruments and beyond. The artist development program includes individual development/ensemble experience, higher education and early career. The program reaches approximately 2 million in live and broadcast audiences annually, while serving as the primary resource to the field. The national alliance for audition support is a national consortium project aimed at advancing representation in american orchestras and supporting careers of musicians pursuing the orchestral track.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 77% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 87% 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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 75
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 97
- Sustainability: 68
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 72.6%; rating input score 73
- Program expense ratio: 88.3%; rating input score 88
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.42 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 95%; rating input score 95; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 20.9%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.53; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 20.4%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 13.8% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 72.6% of revenue deployed · 88.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 19 of 20 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $6.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $599K · 23 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.