The Music Education Initiative
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 853377089
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2023–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
- Location
- Rogers, AR, USA
- Phone
- 8778295500
- Rating
- 55
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Arts Education
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $133,329
- Expenses
- $289,124
- Assets
- $168,126
- Liabilities
- $57,551
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
1 person listed
Highest reported compensation
- Orson Weems (Founder): $135,195 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 Music Education Initiative mission isto bring music education and appreciation to the general public and school aged children.
What it reported doing in 2024
The Music Education Initiative sponsored the 2024 Arkansas County Blues & Stringsband Festival which was a weekend event to for general public. This annual event serves as both a cultural celebration & educational opportunity. The festival blends live performances from well known and legendary musical artists with artist led workshops in music, dance, and trandition based crafts. By elevating heritage arts & showcasing cross-cultural exchange, the festival promotes understanding & pride in local traditions while drawing regional attention to Arkansass creative talent. Cultural presentations such as square dancing, community storytelling, & shared creative spaces revive & reinterpret communal traditions, encouraging participation across generations. Additional hands-on engagements have included film screenings, media workshops, quill instrument making, & craft distilling demonstrations. These efforts cultivate appreciation for diverse cultural expressions.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 87% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 91% 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
MIXED - 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 38
- Transparency & Controls: 69
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 11
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 46.9%; rating input score 47
- Program expense ratio: 21.6%; rating input score 22
- Fundraising efficiency: $10.6 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 19th 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: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Limited
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -116.9%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.58; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.34; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 46.8%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -87.3% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 19.8% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 35.9% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 46.9% of revenue deployed · 21.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $63K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $135K · 1 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $135K reported
- Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 47/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 22/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.