The Gift of Music Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN: 473268303
IRS 990 coverage: 2020–2024
Forms available: Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-N 2015
Location: Marietta, GA, USA
Phone: 8885510077
Rating: 57
Verdict: MIXED
Rating confidence: Moderate
Sector: Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue: $1,293,773
Expenses: $964,807
Assets: $813,458
Liabilities: $501,472

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

CHRISTOPHER R MONROE (CEO/EXEC DIR)

Highest reported compensation

D SCOTT KEEFER (VICE PRES/CS): $40,000 total reported compensation
CHRISTOPHER R MONROE (CEO/EXEC DIR): $35,333 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Create access to musical instruments and education through innovative, needs-based programs.

What it reported doing in 2024

Access to instruments (ati) program: provides access to the instrument that a beginning student needs to participate in band or orchestra. Our innovative model serves families of all financial means and pricing is based on need. The "partner plan" is open to all families with a near market monthly rental rate that helps subsidize other plans. The "reduced plan" is a monthly rental at a greatly reduced cost. It is open to families receiving any kind of nutrition assistance such as free/reduced lunch, snap, etc. The "gift of music plan" is an option for families meeting further income and household size qualifications. It has a small application fee, but no monthly rental payments. Both the partner and reduced plans are month to month rent to own contracts that can be cancelled and returned any time. The gift of music plan can be renewed each school year. All plans include our repair and maintenance (ramp) at no additional cost.

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 97% 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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

Financial Efficiency: 41
Transparency & Controls: 94
Accountability: 23
Sustainability: 56
Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

Mission deployment rate: 33.6%; rating input score 34
Program expense ratio: 41.7%; rating input score 42
Fundraising efficiency: $36.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 72; 72nd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

Operating margin: 25.4%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.84; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.62; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Officer compensation ratio: 7.8%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

Program expense growth: 17.6% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
Revenue growth: 29.5% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
Asset growth: 34.8% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

Where the money goes: 33.6% of revenue deployed · 41.7% of spending went to programs
Governance: 0 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $403K in reported program spending
Leadership: top reported pay $40K · 11 people listed
Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
Contacts: How to reach this organization
Money network: 4 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 34/100.
High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 42/100.
Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.