Zado

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
814167357
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Carmichael, CA, USA
Phone
9169959948
Rating
63
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Singing, Choral

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,071
Expenses
$650
Assets
$11,854
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Teresa Stahl (President)
  • Rachel Freund (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Janice Volkoff (Treasurer)
  • Teresa Stahl (President)
  • James Shoemaker (Secretary)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Mastering as a performing group and educating the public about Balkan/Eastern European and other related international vocal folk music and singing techniques: Collaborate with other musicians and/or choral groups. Perform this music for a wide variety of audiences and venues. Provide instruction in choral styles, languages, and arrangements of this music. Provide high quality audio and video recordings of this music that are culturally accurate and make available in physical and digital media.

What it reported doing in 2025

Educate and inspire others through performances; recruit new singers and teach them folk songs and techniques; and present programs and develop new musical art forms for greater Sacramento area communities: Worked on final submission artwork requirements and rebranding towards distributing CA Arts Council grant to restore and remaster 57 prior audio recordings, now pushed back to 2026 publishing. Provided a workshop for Zado members on vocal techniques, voice placement, and Bulgarian singing with master Bulgarian vocalist and teacher Tzvetanka Varimezova. Collaborated with local artist Mary Sand to present Balkan folk songs at local Kicksville Viny & Vintage. Returned to again perform at a World Music Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento benefit for Afghan refugees. Added 3 more possible singers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% 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

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 41
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 83
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 13%; rating input score 13
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 87.2%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 18.24; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.7% per year; rating input score 0; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -7.2% per year; rating input score 0; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 13% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $650 in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 13/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.