Spreckels Organ Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
330299072
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
Phone
6197028138
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Music

Reported finances

Revenue
$795,635
Expenses
$655,440
Assets
$5,781,498
Liabilities
$45,013

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Randy Ward (President)
  • Gordon Stanley (Vice President)
  • Kathleen Stoughton (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Raul Prieto Ramirez (Artistic Director): $164,778 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 mission of the Spreckels Organ Society is to preserve, program and promote the Spreckels Organ as a world treasure for all people. The Spreckels Organ Society presents over 65 concerts each year free of charge and open to the public. We also provide scholarships for young organ students and educational programs for children, focusing on Title I schools.

What it reported doing in 2024

The primary programmatic function of the Spreckels Organ Society is providing Sunday and special concerts at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion on our world-famous organ. This is done in coordination with the City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department. The city pays the civic organist to perform on Sundays, but the Spreckels Organ Society pays the bulk of the organist's compensation. We also pay for extra expenses such as hand programs, additional musicians, vocalists and holiday decorations. The Spreckels Organ Society also provides additional events and concerts throughout the year. In addition to the San Diego International Summer Organ Festival, the Spreckels Organ Society presented several special concerts on Saturdays and holidays during 2024, including Halloween, December Nights and Mother's Day concerts. The Spreckels Organ Society also pays for the organ curator for special concerts.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 82% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - 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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.9%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 81.3%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $28.4 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 17.6%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.82; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.1%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.9% of revenue deployed · 81.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $533K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $165K · 19 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.