Symphony Tacoma

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
916032976
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Tacoma, WA, USA
Phone
2532727264
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Symphony Orchestras

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,131,214
Expenses
$1,481,183
Assets
$1,731,620
Liabilities
$180,304

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SHARON BOURNE-LEADER (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KARINA BUSCH (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • JENNI WARREN (FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SARAH IOANNIDES (MUSIC DIRECTOR): $116,378 total reported compensation
  • JENNI WARREN (FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $116,226 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Symphony tacoma's mission is " building community through music"

What it reported doing in 2024

Symphony tacoma engaged in multi-year initiative to champion diversity, equity, inclusion, access and belonging in all aspects of our business. Our subscription series featured a diverse array of guest artist and repertoire. As a champion of new music, music director sarah ioannides has premiered several works by living composers, a rarity in our industry. Our education programs returned to in-person last year. Our symphony2u program supporting elementary, middle and high school string programs was expanded and delivered in-person to seven schools and provided consecutive weeks of intensive coaching and performances. We were one of just a few organizations in tacoma to have performances that were used as a field trip (our simply symphonic series). In addition, symphony tacoma created oppotunities to have free

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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.4%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 51.9%; rating input score 52
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.9 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -30.9%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.17; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.7%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.4% of revenue deployed · 51.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $768K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $116K · 20 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 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 — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 52/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 12/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.