Unity Music Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
451100375
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Lafayette, CA, USA
Phone
9255963033
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$84,646
Expenses
$215,905
Assets
$1,428,622
Liabilities
$179

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

Leadership & pay

2 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SAMUEL K BELER (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DEBBIE DAMBOISE (SECRETARY): $20,093 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Knowing that music is the key that opens doors to communities, institutions, prisons, palaces, schools and soup kitchens, as well as nations an individual hearts, we exist to... 1. Bring reconciliation where there is conflict and strife, 2. Offer hope where there is hurt, and 3. Match resources with tomorrow's musicians, artists, educators and leaders, ...in order to seek justice, love beauty and share good news everywhere we go. We exist to bridge cultures, generations, races, socio-economic devides and to introduce discussions and dialogues with people regarding transformative change.

What it reported doing in 2024

Producing quality music benefits and recordings in order to assist other organizations with their fundraising goals, while coaching and mentoring aspiring musicians by matching them up with master musicians.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 42% for direct work, and 58% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 5
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 91.3%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 97.4%; rating input score 97; 57th 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; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -155.1%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.62; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.3%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -17.8% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 91.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 2 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $197K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $20K · 2 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.