Sweet Adelines International

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
611805010
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
East Lansing, MI, USA
Phone
5175053327
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Singing, Choral

Reported finances

Revenue
$79,874
Expenses
$62,950
Assets
$183,247
Liabilities
$22,855

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kendra LaPointe (Vice President)
  • Samantha Fisher (President)

People named in this filing

  • Andrea Petzold (Business Coordinator)
  • Nancy Wells (Chorus Relations Coordinator)
  • Cynthia Breisch (Membership Coordinator)

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

Educate and promote art form of 4-part harmony acapella style

What it reported doing in 2025

EDUCATION Compensation of educators for vocal production training. Compensation of music director for rehearsal sessions Purchasing of 4-part harmony arrangements; purchase of risers for members to stand on while rehearsing and rental of risers prior to purchase; general costs to operate and maintain the chorus that provides education to members.

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 - 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.9%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 94.5%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: $160.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 24th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 21.2%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.91; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 34.5% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.8% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.9% of revenue deployed · 94.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $60K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 13/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.