The Cleveland Music School Settlement
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 340714339
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Cleveland, OH, USA
- Phone
- 2164215806
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Performing Arts Schools
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $9,580,718
- Expenses
- $6,558,230
- Assets
- $25,969,025
- Liabilities
- $733,901
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
35 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- GERALYN M PRESTI (PRESIDENT & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- GERALYN M PRESTI (PRESIDENT & CEO): $191,000 total reported compensation
- STEVEN F KREGER (VP-FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION): $98,290 total reported compensation
- EMILY COLE (VP-ADVANCEMENT): $69,530 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To welcome all to our music and arts community to learn, create, celebrate and heal.
What it reported doing in 2024
Established in 1966, the music settlement's center for music therapy has been a pioneer in helping people with disabilities and/or medical issues. The mission of the center is to creatively use music as a therapeutic tool for meeting the challenges and needs and promoting the well-being of those in our communities. The center employs state of Ohio licensed (lpmt) and board-certified music therapists (mt-bc's) who conduct individual or group music therapy sessions at our university circle and Ohio city campuses and at numerous educational, medical, social service and recreational agencies in the cleveland metropolitan area. The program description continues on schedule o. Our mt-bc's systematically and prescriptively use music-based interventions to positively impact the lives of children and adults facing a wide range of life's challenges. In fy25 we served 931 individuals with a variety of diagnoses and needs at our two campuses and with 6 organizations at 6 locations.
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 95% 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 available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 59
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 78
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 54.3%; rating input score 54
- Program expense ratio: 75.8%; rating input score 76
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- 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: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 31.5%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.96; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.5%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 54.3% of revenue deployed · 75.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 29 of 29 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $191K · 35 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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 54/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 50/100.