The Wausau Conservatory of Music Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391391008
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Wausau, WI, USA
Phone
7158456279
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Performing Arts Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$782,236
Expenses
$909,895
Assets
$3,136,530
Liabilities
$74,913

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KEITH MONTGOMERY (PRESIDENT)
  • SUSAN BENDER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SUSAN BENDER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $43,005 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 mission of the wausau conservatory of music is to provide exceptional music education and performances that enrich the lives of students, families, faculty and the community.

What it reported doing in 2024

The wausau conservatory of music is a community music school serving the central Wisconsin community since 1981. For fy ending 6/30/2025, the school's 22 highly qualified music faculty taught 6836.42 hours of private lessons to 373 individual students (compared to 338 students enrolled in private/individual lessons for the same semester in 2024). This is our primary interaction with the community and of these students, between 15-18% receive tuition assistance in accordance with hud standards for income and household size. Our policies and applications are available in english, spanish, korean, and hmong to promote equal access to tuition assistance.included in program expenses are faculty wages for all classes, materials/marketing/hospitality/housing/mileage, insurance/tax withholding/fica/ professional training, while we do not currently have a grant to fund assistance, we have annual fundraisers and donors give to the community foundation of north central Wisconsin. All named scholarships are distributed according to the charters. Program grant expenses include $90559 from the badger bounceback federal grant and $3000 from the green bay packer foundation.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 72% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.7%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 69.4%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -16.3%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.45; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.7%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.7% of revenue deployed · 69.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $631K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $43K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 10/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.