Virginia Symphony Orchestra

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
546000598
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2020
Location
Norfolk, VA, USA
Phone
7574663060
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Symphony Orchestras

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,283,748
Expenses
$7,969,444
Assets
$1,532,564
Liabilities
$2,370,438

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

Leadership & pay

37 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • WARREN ANDREA (PRESIDENT AND CEO (TO 6.25.25))
  • KELLY SHANNON (PRESIDENT AND CEO (AS OF 6.26.25))

Highest reported compensation

  • WARREN ANDREA (PRESIDENT AND CEO (TO 6.25.25)): $165,479 total reported compensation
  • KELLY SHANNON (PRESIDENT AND CEO (AS OF 6.26.25)): $140,479 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Driven by its core values of artistic excellence and inclusion, the Virginia symphony orchestra is dedicated to creating world-class symphonic performances, transformative music education, and purposeful community engagement throughout southeastern Virginia.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provision of orchestras, ensembles, musical groups and guest artists for cultural and educational opportunities and experiences primarily within greater hampton roads. The over 100 year-old orchestra is Virginia's pre-eminent professional symphony orchestra and performs classics, pops and family concert series in Virginia and North Carolina reaching more than 100,000 concert goers every year. Dedicated to engaging children, students and adults with the power of classical music, education and community programs reach over 45,000 children, students and life long learning adults each year through young people's concerts, school artistic residencies, master classes and small ensemble special programs.

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 100% 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 the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 16
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.1%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 76.8%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • 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: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -9.4%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.19; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.55; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.1% of revenue deployed · 76.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 30 of 30 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $165K · 37 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $278K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.