Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Mar 2015.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
64 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Something off? Claim to add context
Who runs it and what they're paid
8 people listed on the 990; $32K paid to officers and key staff.
Karen Fouts’s $32K as Executive Di is at the 26th percentile of top reported officer pay among 2216 $100K–1M arts & culture nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 2 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melissa Mercado | — | $42,500 | $60,000 | $62,500 | $53,400 |
| Karen Fouts | $31,754 | — | — | — | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
See Fox Valley Music Foundation executive salaries →Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Preserves and promotes Fox Valley music through education, events, and performances.
Questions for Fox Valley Music Foundation
Your first name shows with your question. Fox Valley Music Foundation answers here, for everyone.
2022 was our first full year of regular season programming since the opening of the venue in june 2019. After 16 months of forced closure and reduced capacity during 2020 and part of 2021 due to the covid pandemic, the venue returned to presenting a full schedule of live music with local, regional and national touring artists on stage…
Residency programs in 2022 the music foundation, in cooperation with the pete ellman jazz big band NFP, began a weekly residency program, presenting 38 jazz big band concerts that included 45 middle and high school jazz bands as "openers" prior to the professional big band concerts.
Music education rock talk free lecture series with professor mark plummer the music foundation in collaboration with professor mark plummer of aurora university presented a 4-PART, free lecture series called rock talk.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2024 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY24 | End FY24 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $131K | $80K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $243K | $246K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $397K | $373K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $352K | $345K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $46K | $27K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $144K | $43K | $65K | $36K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $4K | $1K | $2K | $1K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $12K | $4K | $5K | $3K |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $331K | $331K | ||
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $49K | $49K | ||
| Office expensesLn 13 | $14K | $10K | $4K | |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $18K | $9K | $9K | |
| InterestLn 20 | $9K | $9K | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $27K | $27K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $6K | $3K | $3K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $174K | $104K | $29K | $41K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $6K | $3K | $3K | |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $794K | $508K | $156K | $130K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 Latest ViewingFiled with the IRS Oct 29, 2025 | $776K | $794K | −$18K | $27K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS Nov 13, 2024 | $599K | $642K | −$43K | $46K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS Aug 30, 2023 | $484K | $557K | −$72K | $89K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021Filed with the IRS Jun 8, 2022 | $374K | $423K | −$49K | $161K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020Filed with the IRS May 13, 2021 | $265K | $289K | −$23K | $210K | 990 PDF |
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2024 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $775,926 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 8 of 8 board members independent, 2 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $775,926 across 7 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $794,285 across 12 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $372,746 assets, 14 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $27,322 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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