Spokane Symphony Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
910730435
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Spokane, WA, USA
Phone
5093263136
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Symphony Orchestras

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,550,657
Expenses
$6,721,968
Assets
$24,992,883
Liabilities
$6,132,827

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jeff Vom Saal Until 0824 (President, Executive Director)
  • Russ Lee From 0824 (President, Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Daniel Cotter (Secretary, Operations Manager): $149,349 total reported compensation
  • Weiling Zhu (Treasurer, CFO): $137,978 total reported compensation
  • James Lowe (Music Director): $130,000 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 Spokane Symphony is dedicated to providing high quality, professional orchestral performances and education to the Inland Northwest for the purpose of enriching and transforming lives through music and owns and operates the historic Fox Theater.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Spokane Symphony Society presents 60 concerts and over 500 education events annually plus operates a historic theater which, brings touring groups and provides space for concerts, educational and community events by other area organizations. Total reach of the Symphony and the Fox is approximately 150,000 people annually.

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.

The verdict

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.2%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 78.6%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.01 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th 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: Yes; rating input score 100

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: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.6%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.72; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.5%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.2% of revenue deployed · 78.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $149K · 23 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $129K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and related organizations
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.