Texas · Nonprofit
WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC
WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC (Texas) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $643,406 to it, the largest being CREATIVE WACO ($300,500). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.5M
- Funders on record
- 9
- Grants received
- $643k
- Net assets
- $688k
What Waco Symphony Association Inc does
Mission
Waco symphony association's mission is to present live classical music that will enrich the cultural life of our community.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Concerts - the 62nd season themed "new frontiers" for the waco symphony orchestra marked the first full season under the artistic leadership of music director / conductor lawrence loh. It featured four classical concerts with soloists including pianist orli shaham on rhapsody in blue, cliburn gold medal-winning pianist jon nakamatsu playing rachmaninoff's piano concerto no. 2, violin superstar ray chen playing tchaikovsky's violin concerto, and clarinetist anthony mcgill and organist bradley hunter welch featured on saint-saens' symphony no. 3. Ballet frontier of texas collaborated with wso and local student dancers on the nutcracker. We presented our first full feature film in concert, jurassic park in concert. Waco symphony youth orchestra presented two free concerts under the leadership of maestro beau benson, who resigned after 11 successful seasons to take a new role at pepperdine university.the wsa provides an internship for undergrad or graduate students majoring in music performance, which affords them an opportunity to perform with the waco symphony orchestra. In addition to the opportunity to perform with a professional orchestra through the internship, students are…
$952,594 spentof which $11,226 as grants$596,401 earned by the program93% of program spendingChildren's education: belles and brass - the waco symphony association's long-standing belle and brass program accepts high school sophomore and junior girls and junior boys in an etiquette training and classical music appreciation program which not only introduces young students to the world of classical music but also encourages their parents to attend all symphony concert performances. Participants in the program serve as volunteer greeters at the concerts. The belles & brass program for the 2022-23 year included 23 junior symphony belles, 42 sophomore symphony belles and 13 symphony brass. Adopt-a-school- the waco symphony association donates funds to school orchestras for new instruments, refurbishment of current instruments, and other items needed to provide an opportunity to students to play in the school orchestra. Children's concert- every school year, the baylor symphony orchestra presents a concert for waco area school children to expose students to classical orchestral music. The concerts are organized by the waco symphony association through the waco symphony council members.
$50,135 spentof which $7,460 as grants$56,576 earned by the program5% of program spendingWaco symphony youth orchestra- the association sponsors the waco symphony youth orchestra and also pays tuition for select students as needed and requested. During the fiscal year, the youth orchestra had 52 members and 6 members received scholarships for the tuition from the waco symphony association.
$23,130 spentof which $1,500 as grants$14,011 earned by the program2% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,025,859.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2024 to 2025, from $677k to $892k (+32%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 3% · 2018 3% · 2019 6% · 2020 5% · 2021 21% · 2022 3% · 2023 3% · 2024 5% · 2025 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
50% of WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Carolyn Bess
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 5 funders to 3 funders, grant income fell $88k → $61k.
2 of 9 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 3% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $348k from 2 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Waco Symphony Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC raised.
From the IRS filings of WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 47% of grant income and the top three 84%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
81% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 46% · 2018 97% · 2019 57% · 2020 81% · 2021 97% · 2022 96% · 2023 50% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
43% of WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 78% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
91% of WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC's grant income comes from Texas funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $17k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Texas
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
92%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Waco Symphony Foundation · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC?
- WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC (Texas) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $643,406 to it, the largest being CREATIVE WACO ($300,500). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 9 organizations giving $643,406 in grants to WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC?
- CREATIVE WACO is the largest funder on record, with $300,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WACO SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Texas. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 9 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing