The Defiant Requiem Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
263238489
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2008
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2022440220
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Cultural, Ethnic Awareness

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,015,138
Expenses
$1,112,059
Assets
$386,052
Liabilities
$66,935

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Murry Sidlin (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Louisa Hollman (Executive Dir.): $126,048 total reported compensation
  • Murry Sidlin (President): $103,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Mission of the Foundation: (i) To confront contemporary challenges, including increased Holocaust ignorance, Holocaust denial, and antisemitism by performing Foundations hallmark concert performance, Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezn; its sister concert, Hours of Freedom: The Story of the Terezn Composer; its Emmy-nominated documentary film, Defiant Requiem; along with comprehensive curriculum modules that are designed to frame and enhance Holocaust education, all of which use the courage and cultural resistance of Rafael Schchter and his fellow prisoners to show why the Holocaust must never be forgotten. (ii) Raising awareness and understanding of the dangers of antisemitism, Holocaust ignorance and denial through various literary, educational, and artistic activities such as original performance art increasingly on college campuses with student musicians and singers documentary film, and educational materials geared for middle and high school students, the Foundation offers a unique a

What it reported doing in 2024

The Defiant Requiem Foundation collaborated with Partisan Pictures to produce Defiant Requiem, a feature-length documentary film, conceived by Foundation President and Founder, Murry Sidlin. The film was broadcast nationwide on PBS in the spring of 2013, on BBC4 in the United Kingdom in early 2014, and on France Tlvisions in May 2015. In 2014 Defiant Requiem was nominated for two News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Historical Documentary Long Form and Outstanding Writing.The Foundation continues to distibute the documentary, and also allows other organizations to host film screenings. Cash promises to give are restricted to payment of the cost of production, exploitation and dissemination of the documentary in major media and educational outlets worldwide.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 72% 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.
  • 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 71
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.5%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 60%; rating input score 60
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd 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: 90%; rating input score 90; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -9.5%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.35; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.6%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.1% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.1% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -10.9% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.5% of revenue deployed · 60% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 20 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $667K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $126K · 20 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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: 5 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 16/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.