Year-End Report 2024
501(c)3 – FEIN 46-4000828
Our Vision:
Grassroots and nation-wide support of instrument-based music education offered in schools or as after-school programs, so all children experience the measurable social, biological, economic, and academic benefits of music education, regardless of socioeconomic status, geographic location, or ability.
The Spirit of Harmony Foundation engages in Music Education advocacy by:
- Providing children’s music programs with information, ideas, and resources to help them address their needs.
- Providing music education advocates with referrals and connections within their own communities so they are able to support local music programs in meaningful and impactful ways.
Based on the most compelling empirical research in the fields of neurobiology and youth development, we endorse the following Best Practices: instrument-based music education for children, beginning at as young an age as possible, ideally for a minimum four hours per week, for a minimum of two years. The benefits of music education are closely linked to these recognized Best Practices, but in practical terms we recognize that any music program is preferable to no music program. A fully funded and fully functioning music program is not always feasible at a school, therefore we encourage all music programs to aspire to these high standards to the extent possible and do the best they can to provide a quality music education for their students.
2024 Recap:
The Foundation is committed to always exploring innovative ways to educate the public about the moral imperative of music education, and always looking for new ideas to help bring music education to all children. In the post-pandemic world, we are seeing increasing numbers of school music programs being cut or eliminated, and we are simultaneously seeing increasing numbers of music-based nonprofit organizations closing their doors. For existing programs, there is a great deal of personnel turnover, with teacher shortages and budget cuts. All the while, children need and deserve a well-rounded education that includes Music and the Arts, and the Spirit of Harmony has continued to consciously cultivate relationships with music programs and resources in order to match music programs with the local and national resources they need to be the best they can be, always mindful of the unique circumstances of each individual music program and every community.
Accomplishments – ADMINISTRATIVE:
Board of Directors.
- Per the Bylaws, elections were held for Officers and Board members. No changes have been made to the roster of Officers and Board members.
- Maintained password-protected Board Portal for 2024.
- Zoom, Telephone, Email, and In-Person Board meetings and interactions throughout the year.
Business Practices.
- All reports and official forms filed on time.
- All donations accurately logged and acknowledged.
- 2024 Year-end tax letters for donors sent to all donors in January 2025.
- 2024 Year-end reports submitted to pro-bono accountant Chris Detzer in January 2025.
- Ongoing efficient responsiveness to general and specific inquiries and opportunities via email, telephone, and social media.
- Where required by law, SOHF maintains state-by-state non-profit registrations and filings by Michael Baird.
- The Foundation moved funds into an interest-bearing investment account for longer term stability.
Fundraising:
- Individual donations: Ongoing donations and relationship-building with individual donors.
- We work individually with families to set up “In honor of” and “In memory of” donations according to their wishes, and we cultivate relationships with donors who make “recurring monthly” gifts.
- Two online auctions completed with all items promptly packed and shipped.
- Sought out opportunities for matching grants, challenge grants, donor-designated funds, and cause-related marketing.
- Merchandise: Created and launched new Hello It’s Tea mugs, and continued to market The Magistris Project, Toddstock Re-Issue, imprinted items (Zazzle), and Someone/Anyone? CD.
Accomplishments – PROGRAM:
Partnerships. Functioning as an advocate for music programs around the country, the Foundation works one-on-one with programs nationwide, helping connect the programs with the resources they need to provide their students with optimal benefits. To accomplish this mission, partnerships are established and nurtured, introductions are made, and creative problem-solving is in the forefront of SOHF activities. Current active partnerships include: music manufacturers, instrument repair, businesses and corporations, school systems, academic institutions, service clubs, a wide variety of nonprofits, community leaders, music groups and artist fan bases, etc.
Of particular note is the Spirit of Harmony’s longstanding and strong relationship with Hungry for Music, which resulted in a large and well-publicized musical instrument drive in October 2024, held in cooperation with the Town of Woodstock, New York and Bearsville Center.
Advocacy. In addition to providing individual music programs with assistance in accessing resources, and in addition to the Foundation’s overall communication and networking to promote the importance of music education, SOHF takes every opportunity to empower and motivate our wide network of supporters to engage in Music Education Advocacy in their own communities. We encourage adults to recognize the importance of music in their own lives currently, as well as articulating their positive experiences with music as they were growing up. An “army” of music education advocates supports our mission in myriad unique ways: by attending local children’s performances and events, by supporting local school music programs, instrument drives, etc., by promoting the moral imperative of music education within their own social and professional networks, and by celebrating music and music education in general.
For Todd’s extensive 2024 ME/WE Tour, the Spirit of Harmony had an information table at nearly every one of the 75 shows. Throughout both legs of the tour, we had more than 250 individual volunteers who each worked at least one show, and we had as many as ten volunteers at several of the shows. In total, we handed out approximately 7500 information cards, 7500 wristbands, 7500 square pins, and 1800 magnets, and interacted with tens of thousands of concertgoers. SOHF’s presence at the information tables generated countless inquiries, meetings, and other interactions from fans, local music programs, and educators. As the tour crisscrossed the country, we had dozens of calls about instrument donations and organizing instrument drives, a good number of signups to our social media accounts and newsletter list, and substantial donations.
Community Building: Through information tables at concerts, social media posts, information sharing, and personal relationships, the Foundation endeavors to cultivate a positive and harmonious spirit throughout the fan community and music community that creates goodwill and enthusiasm for the Mission and Purposes of Music Education Advocacy, nationally and internationally.
SOHF continues to actively assist programs with:
- Networking among organizations to help match resources with needs.
- In an effort to be as responsive as possible to ever-evolving music education advocacy situations as they arise, the Foundation is specifically working with several organizations on Maui to offer our assistance in creating/restoring music programs after the 2023 Lahaina fire.
- Technological and logistic issues related to remote/social distance music education.
- Information on new opportunities, resources, and support, and introductions as needed.
- Continual updating our Instrument Network database to reflect many changes in staffing and programming in school districts and organizations. The purpose of the database is to facilitate placing instruments that are being donated all across the country.
- The Foundation added a resource page to the website to specifically deal with questions and logistics related to piano donations.
- Social media posts share the latest music education related information from professional and academic organizations, governmental, and cultural organizations, including NAMM, NAfME, National Endowment for the Humanities, US. Department of Education, White House Partnerships Office, etc.
- Our Advocacy Toolkit is website-based and continually updated information to assist individuals and organizations for grassroots efforts to support music education. We strive to keep the Advocacy Toolkit and the foundation’s social media postings as supportive, current, and content-rich as possible.
- SOHF is involved with advocacy among elected officials, professional associations, and organizations, as appropriate.
- Awards and Recognition:
- Awarded Great Nonprofits’ “Top Nonprofits Award” 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
- Candid (formerly GuideStar) Bronze Seal in 2018, Silver Seal in 2019, Gold Seal in 2020, and Platinum (their highest level) Seal 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
- Music for All/Advocacy In Action partnership award, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024.
- Creative Schools Fund by Ingenuity of Chicago grant application evaluator, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024.
Ongoing Musical Instrument Collections and Placements:
Aside from funding, the primary and most universal need of music programs is obtaining and maintaining their musical instruments, and one of the best methods of engaging supporters is getting them involved in donating instruments and gear, whether a one-off donation of something they own, assisting with an instrument pick-up or delivery, or participating in a larger-scale instrument drive. We strive to make as many matches as possible with instrument donors and instrument recipients. Since instrument drives require pick-up/drop off sites, evaluation, repair/reconditioning, and redistribution, we continually develop relationships with organizations, and update our contact information on organizations in every state. Also, the Foundation maintains a close working relationship with national and regional instrument donation and repair organizations, and with Music Will (formerly Little Kids Rock) and their extensive network connections.
Introduction of Two New Nontraditional Music Education Advocacy Programs:
- 3D Instrument Printing Project (https://spiritofharmony.org/3d/). Recognizing that the expense of musical instruments is often an impediment to music education, SOHF is testing the concept with several children’s music programs and schools/universities with 3D Printing/engineering programs. We now have extensive R&D happening in Pennsylvania spearheaded by Diane Lucas and Chris DeLucia at The Hill School in Pottstown, PA and among various colleges and independent musicians in central Pennsylvania.
- SoundArts Electronic Music Education (https://spiritofharmony.org/sound-arts-electronic-music/). SoundArts is a viable and valuable method of promoting music education, particularly among youth who are not particularly interested in learning how to play an instrument and/or schools that do not have the resources for a traditional music program. This concept has been spearheaded by Kyle and Richard Shallbetter, and they are making themselves available as resources for music programs around the country who have questions or need guidance with electronic music programs.
Public Information/Engagement:
- Emails: emails sent out through Constant Contact as needed.
- Inquiries from the general public, on a vast range of topics.
- Social Media: Through daily posts on Facebook and other social media, the Foundation continually spreads awareness about the importance of Music Education in particular and music in general. The Foundation’s goal with social media is to provide high quality academic, inspirational, and fun content that will be liked and shared by our networks, and to build a strong sense of community and enthusiasm around our Mission. The “hook” of all posts is always music education advocacy. Social media totals follow:
Social Media Report
|
|
December 31, 2024 |
December 31, 2023 |
|
Facebook Group Members |
10,879 |
9,903 |
|
Facebook Page Followers |
12,677 |
11,417 |
|
X (Twitter) followers |
0 |
1,205 |
|
BlueSky |
252 |
— |
|
YouTube Channel subscribers |
936 |
891 |
|
Email List (Constant Contact) |
12,090 |
11,859 |
For additional information:
Please don’t hesitate to email the foundation at [email protected] to request any additional information.
Past Reports: