The Block
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 462916008
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2013–2020
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2020
- Location
- Muskegon, MI, USA
- Phone
- 2317263231
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Music
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $84,027
- Expenses
- $71,113
- Assets
- $0
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
People named in this filing
- Paul Jackson (Chairperson)
- Ryan Bryker (Director)
- Susan Cloutier Crain (Director)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Block's mission is to be Muskegon's musical third place. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term "third places" for venues that are anchors of community life and broader, creative interaction. We fulfill that mission through thoughtful and varied program curation that attracts a diverse audience; hands-on music education activities for young people; and by making the space available for free or at cost to community groups. Located in downtown Muskegon, The Block is a modern, intimate performance space in a restored 1890 building that formerly housed the community's first YMCA. It boasts state of the art lighting, sound and electronic equipment. Its 12-concert core series includes classical chamber music by members of West Michigan Symphony; and jazz, folk and world music featuring artists from Michigan and the surrounding Midwest.
What it reported doing in 2020
Key to the mission is making music more accessible to diverse ages and audiences. Click Clack Moosic (video) is The Block's storytelling series for children ages 3-7 based on the book Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type by Cronin and Lewin [Simon & Schuster]. The format is interactive, giving children the opportunity to meet musicians, learn basic music concepts, and hear original music written specially for the series. The Instrument Petting Zoo, a partnership with West Michigan Symphony, gives children the opportunity to see, touch and try out instruments for themselves. Each of the four instrument families-strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion-are introduced during a 45-minute program. Geared towards children ages 8-12, the 20-instrument petting zoo is a mobile program that is offered at The Block and at area schools, organizations and community events. Debut Strings is a group instruction program that introduces beginning and intermediate students to large ensemble performance. Impacting more than 40 young string players from three West Michigan counties, the group rehearses once a week throughout the fall and spring and performs two concerts annually. Offering a higher level of individualized attention than afforded by the typical orchestra class, the program builds confidence and comfort level and is a valuable complement both to private lessons and school ensembles.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 70% 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
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 59
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 37
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 54.8%; rating input score 55
- Program expense ratio: 64.8%; rating input score 65
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 15.4%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -15.6% per year; rating input score 0; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -3.5% per year; rating input score 0; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 54.8% of revenue deployed · 64.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 2 filed program accomplishments · $46K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 13 people listed
- Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2013 to 2020
- 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.