Van Cliburn Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
751098332
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Fort Worth, TX, USA
Phone
8177386536
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Music

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,672,460
Expenses
$9,193,050
Assets
$14,334,543
Liabilities
$1,242,207

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

Leadership & pay

55 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jacques Marquis (President and CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jacques Marquis (President and CEO): $481,366 total reported compensation
  • Alissa Ford (Chief Financial Officer): $177,314 total reported compensation
  • Sandra Doan (Director of Artistic Planning): $160,225 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 Cliburn advances classical piano music throughout the world. Its international competitions, education programs, and concert series embody an enduring commitment to artistic excellence and the discovery of young artists.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Cliburn fosters the appreciation of classical and other forms of music through the presentation of piano competitions, including a professional competition, an amateur competition, and a junior competition. Competitions rotate, occurring once every four years.

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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 91
  • Transparency & Controls: 52
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 90.2%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 95%; rating input score 95; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 14.7%; rating input score 15; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.56; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.6%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 23.5% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 99% of revenue deployed · 90.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 49 of 49 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $8.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $481K · 55 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $276K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 15/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.