Tennessee Music Education Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
203325550
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Murfreesboro, TN, USA
Phone
6157848632
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Professional Societies, Associations

Reported finances

Revenue
$461,553
Expenses
$404,523
Assets
$118,056
Liabilities
$4,479

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL CHESTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • JOEL DENTON (PRESIDENT)
  • J R BAKER (PRESIDENT-ELECT)
  • LAFE COOK (IMMEDIATE-PAST PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL CHESTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $20,960 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 nbsp; organization nbsp; promotes nbsp; the nbsp; advancement nbsp; of nbsp; high-quality nbsp; music nbsp; education nbsp; for nbsp; all

What it reported doing in 2024

Tennessee music education association (tmea) represents all phases of music education at all school levels. Tmea encourages and provides students with opportunities for high quality music experiences actively promotes and provides the best resources for professional development and encourages lifelong learning in music. Tmea provides opportunities for sharing and disseminating information resources and teaching strategies and strives to be a leading advocate for music education at the local regional and state levels. Tmea conferences and publication of the Tennessee musician uphold the mission of promoting the advancement of high-quality music education for all.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 79% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.7%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 97.8%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.4%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.29; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.2%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.4% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.7% of revenue deployed · 97.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $374K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $21K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 16/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.