West Michigan Symphony
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 386092131
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Muskegon, MI, USA
- Phone
- 2317263231
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Symphony Orchestras
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,953,840
- Expenses
- $1,630,555
- Assets
- $2,760,962
- Liabilities
- $537,911
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ANDREW BUELOW (PRESIDENT AN)
Highest reported compensation
- SCOTT SPECK (MUSIC DIRECT): $114,737 total reported compensation
- ANDREW BUELOW (PRESIDENT AN): $111,190 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
West Michigan symphony connects and enriches our diverse community through the transformative power of music, including live symphonic performances in a welcoming environment; small ensemble performances in an immersive listening room; and learning activities for children and adults.
What it reported doing in 2024
Community music encounters: west Michigan symphony reaches deeply into the community through a variety of learning activities to inspire the next generation of music lovers. Examples include click clack moosic, a live musical story time program for children ages 3-8; link up beginner music program, impacting 4,000 3rd-5th graders in 50 area schools; wms children's choir, an audition-based group for ages 8-13 performing its own concerts and appearing with the orchestra annually; tune up, a free beginning string program for underserved students in muskegon public schools; debut strings, an audition and performance-based group for intermediate level string students; and premier strings, wms's showcase youth ensemble for advanced string students, acting as mentors for younger players and performing throughout the area as a full string orchestra and in smaller chamber groups.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 62% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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.
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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 64
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 58
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 63.9%; rating input score 64
- Program expense ratio: 75.4%; rating input score 75
- Fundraising efficiency: $7.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th 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: Limited
- 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: 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: 16.5%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.69; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 13.9%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 63.9% of revenue deployed · 75.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $115K · 16 people listed
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.