Street Symphony Project Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 451990766
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2018–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2017, Form 990-N 2014
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Phone
- 2132226221
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Symphony Orchestras
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $502,791
- Expenses
- $547,654
- Assets
- $370,550
- Liabilities
- $370
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CATHERINE B VIVO (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- CATHERINE B VIVO (CEO): $113,108 total reported compensation
- ROBERT VIJAY GUPTA (FOUNDER/ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): $91,184 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Music is a catalyst for human connection. Street symphony engages communities directly affected by homelessness and incarceration in los angeles county through performances, workshops, and teaching artistry.
What it reported doing in 2024
Workshops (3 annually) midnight strings & women's voices women's voices are 8 to 12-week songwriting workshops at downtown women's center with a committed group of dwc residents, staff, and ss teaching artists and musicians. During the residency, ss teaching artists lead participants in lyric and melody writing to create an original song written by the residents of dwc. Additionally, participants discuss what inspires them and curate a concert of music based on themes of their choice. After six weeks of songwriting workshops and two weeks of combined rehearsals, an all-female musical ensemble from street symphony presents a cumulative concert, focusing on music by women composers. The performance will be capped by the songwriters at dwc performing their original song. Midnight strings is an 8 to 12-week guitar and songwriting workshop at the midnight mission. There are spring and fall workshops. The teaching artists work with community members from the 12-step program (homeless, incarcerated, and addiction recovery programs) to learn the basics of guitar, songwriting, and performance. Throughout the weeks, individuals begin to share their stories, feelings, and experiences resulting in an original song. These workshops culminate in an event, and the fall workshop participates in the messiah project.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 80% 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 76
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 77
- Sustainability: 27
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 81.2%; rating input score 81
- Program expense ratio: 74.5%; rating input score 75
- Fundraising efficiency: $15.92 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 52; 52nd 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: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -8.9%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.68; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 37.3%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 25.9% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 81.2% of revenue deployed · 74.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $408K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $113K · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 52/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.