Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America
Everyone In Harmony
Mission
Our mission is to bring people together in harmony and fellowship to enrich lives through singing.
Ruling year
1946
Executive Director/CEO
Mr. Steve L Denino
Main address
110 Seventh Avenue North
Nashville, TN 37203 USA
Formerly known as
Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America
SPEBSQSA
BHS
S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A.
EIN
39-0926339
NTEE code
Music (A68)
Singing Choral (A6B)
Cultural, Ethnic Awareness (A23)
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990-N.
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Communication
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
When people sing together, it improves their physical and emotional health, builds healthier communities, helps young people become healthier adults, forges intergenerational bonds, reduces barriers across diverse cultures or groups, helps build healthy self-identity, and helps people facing significant challenges address those challenges. If people singing together is good, more people singing together would be even better. Healthier lives, healthier communities, and reduced social costs would be the result. The problem is that, for a variety of reasons, singing together is not widely or easily accessible to many. Barriers include an increasingly elitist attitude towards singing, reduced funding for arts education in schools, lack of social support for singing as something that young men do, a disjointed lifelong singing continuum, and the absence of sector leadership focused on taking singing to scale. We are working to solve this problem by bringing singing together to scale.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Supporting a Global Community of Artists
We provide supportive services that enable communities of artists to thrive in North America and around the globe.
---------- INTENDED OUTCOMES:
--- • Communities of artists expand, grow and become more sustainable
--- • More communities of artists are formed.
--- • More artists join these communities
--- • These groups become integral parts of the cultural fabric of their communities.
---------- KEY PROGRAM ACTIVITIES AND OUTPUTS:
----- 1. We produce local, regional and international convenings that showcase, advance and celebrate the barbershop art form. These events include contests, classes, participatory singing events, shows, celebrations and fellowship.
--- 1A. The summer International Convention is our largest event. It includes the world championships for quartet and chorus performances, a “next generation” quartet contest, dozens of Harmony University classes, a “show of champions”, and a spectacular closing event.
--- 1B. The Midwinter Convention is an intergenerational singing celebration that includes a “next generation” chorus festival, a seniors contest, more Harmony University classes, and up to three nights of shows.
--- 1C. At least 70 conventions, contests, festivals and schools are produced at the district and division levels, each year, as well.
--- 1D. About 20,000 attend these events annually, with many attending year after year. We estimate over 120,000 have attended over the life of the Society.
----- 2. We provide artistic services including licensing and copyright clearance for music and performances, developing and distributing new music and arrangements, and curating and archival recordings of over 5,000 individual tapes, reels, cylinders, records and other media, in 41 different analog formats, capturing 30,000 to 100,000+ individual songs. Our catalog of available barbershop arrangements numbers over 6,000. Annually, we provide clearance services for nearly 1,000 privately commissioned new pieces.
----- 3. We provide operational services for local communities of artists, including legal formation, insurance, board development, dues collection, technology platforms, etc. These are designed to help these communities operate smoothly and nimbly so that their attention can be focused on its impact and artistry. We continue to refine these offerings. Currently over 80% of chapters agree that they are valuable.
----- 4. We fund outreach, capacity-building and innovation efforts by local communities of artists. We’ve awarded over half a million dollars in the last three years via 224 different local community grants.
----- 5. We connect singers and communities of artists worldwide through social media and online efforts. We have an unduplicated social media audience of nearly 80,000, and a total duplicated audience of over 100,000.
Elevating Artistic and Leadership Skills
We operate educational programs and disseminate best practices that advance the artistic skills of singers, artistic/musical directors and music educators, and the leadership skills of the volunteer leaders of local communities of artists.
--------- INTENDED OUTCOMES:
--- • The artistic skills of individual singers and their musical leaders improve, so that they increase the positive impact they make upon their audiences, and attract more people to the transformational power of singing.
--- • The leadership skills of volunteer leaders increase, so that the communities of artists become more sustainable.
--- • Music educators attract more young men to their choirs, increase the impact of their programs on young lives, and improve the overall vitality of their choral music programs.
---------- KEY PROGRAM ACTIVITIES AND OUTPUTS:
----- 1. Harmony University is our signature education program. It includes a Directors College, Music Educators College, Arrangers College, and Harmony College. Harmony University is delivered through various means including a one week summer intensive, courses at local, regional and international festivals, and an online offering.
--- 1A. 3,700 have attended the HU one week summer intensive since its inception. The program has grown rapidly since moving to Belmont University (in Nashville) in 2014, with about 700 attendees per year. About 150 each year attend on Music Educator or Youth scholarships. In total, 200 music educators have been part of HU in the last three years. This is a key piece of of our effort to support school music programs and continual music education professional development.
--- 1B. Since 2015 we have also offered HU programming at our Midwinter and International conventions. These programs have served 8,000 students with over 190 private lessons, and 500 formal ensemble singers in our All Chapter and Everyone in Harmony Choruses.
--- 1C. We are rapidly growing our online offerings, with now over 30 distinct classes, available 24/7. Offerings include live stream events, on-demand content, and online classroom series as well as archived HU Belmont tutorials on warm ups, barbershop history, and best practices in coaching and directing. Coursework includes Music Leadership and Lifelong Music Education, Music Theory, and Community Leader Training.
----- 2. Healthy Chapter Initiative (HCI) is our umbrella program to support the health and vitality of local communities of artists. HCI delivers a wide range of tools, resources and best practices to our grassroots communities. HCI produces an annual Leadership Summit (intensive training for community leaders). Leadership training is delivered at the District level as well. HCI has developed a cohort of volunteer Certified Leadership Facilitators who use a specific methodology for working 1:1 with local communities of artists to craft sustainability plans. To date, 20 facilitators have been trained. They have worked with 80 chapters.
----- 3. Contest & Judging (C&J) is our certification and evaluation program that assesses musical performances and provides real time coaching and feedback to participating artists. C&J involves 160 deeply vetted, highly trained artistic evaluators in the three categories of Singing, Music and Performance, and program administrators. Their work is key in helping an ensemble establish its artistic benchmark and to continue to improve and surpass that benchmark. C&J has conducted over 250,000 performance evaluations in the last decade.
----- 4. Music Education and Clinician Services are available to traveling high school and college groups who hire BHS staff as clinicians This include leaders for All State Choirs, district educational events, and even in partnership with travel companies who hire staff music educators to work their choirs while on tour in Nashville.
Advancing Lifelong Singing as a Core Community Asset
We conduct music education and outreach programs, create partnerships, distribute resources and produce events that increase access to singing, support music educators and promote the value of singing for both the singer and the singer’s community.
---------- INTENDED OUTCOMES:
--- • Music educators attract more young male singers, thereby improving the vitality and impact of their choral music programs.
--- • Young men increase their confidence, discipline, teamwork and creativity, helping them become stronger leaders in their schools, communities and families.
--- • Successful young male singers inspire other young men to sing.
--- • Communities value singing as a core asset.
--- • Grassroots communities of artists grow and expand.
---------- KEY PROGRAM ACTIVITIES AND OUTCOMES:
----- 1. Next Generation Barbershop is our signature outreach program. It helps singers up to age 25 discover their voices and find the joy of singing together. We offer distinct programs for singers in grades 6-12, and post-high school in men’s, women’s, or mixed voice ensembles.
--- 1A. The Next Generation Barbershop Junior Chorus Invitational, for male, female and mixed voice ensembles, age 18 and under, is is our most popular program, with approximately 600 young participants each year. The three day immersion includes clinics and workshops by the likes of Kirby Shaw, Francisco Nunez and Deke Sharon, culminating in a chorus festival and a spectacular closing ceremony featuring all voices. In 2019 it will be held at the Grand Ol’ Opry in Nashville. With the support of Harmony Foundation International,, we are able to offer free convention registrations and financial support for up to 100% of lodging expenses and convention registration for the participating youth.
--- 1B. The Next Generation Varsity Quartet Contest, for male voices, age 25 and under, is the modern day rendition of what started over 25 years ago as the College Quartet Contest. Over 200 young men participate per year in this showcase adjudicated in front of thousands of supportive barbershop fans. Five quartets have gone on to become International Champions, and dozens of alumnae are now in key musical leadership positions throughout the Society and in their local communities.. Substantial scholarship programs make the event accessible to all.
--- 1C. The Next Generation Varsity Chorus Invitational, for male voices, age 25 and under, debuts in July 2018 at our International Convention in Orlando. The week’s activities feature the Contest, adjudicated by certified BHS judges and performed for a large crowd, and an Honors Chorus that will perform two songs in various venues throughout the week. World-class coaches work with the group to bring it to peak performance. Substantial scholarship programs make then event accessible to all.
--- 1D. The Next Generation Junior Quartet Contest, for male, female and mixed voices, age 18 and under, will debut in 2019 at the Grand Ol’ Opry. Substantial scholarship programs will make this accessible to all.
----- 2. Our Everyone In Harmony Grants program distributes BHS funding to grassroots communities of artists for effective and innovative programs that advance our aims. The Youth Outreach Grant is designed to help support youth and music educator workshops, one day festivals, and multi-day camps centered around youth education and the a cappella experience. The program has distributed 224 grants, totalling $550,000, in the last three years. Nearly 24,000 youth have participated in grassroots programs supported by these grants.
----- 3. We distribute sheet music, learning tracks and barbershop starter kits, free of charge, to music educators. We’ve given away over 13,000 units in the last three years.
----- 4. We work with others in the choral ecosystem to advance the idea of singing together for all.
Increasing Impact by Diversifying Revenue
We increase our impact by building diversified revenue streams, including earned income, individual philanthropy, and institutional philanthropy.
We are committed to bringing the act of singing together to scale. To do this requires continually increasing available revenue for missional investment Our scaling model is built around three main sources of revenue.
---------- EARNED REVENUE
Key sources include event registrations and ticket sales, membership dues, Harmony University tuition and course fees, and sales of sheet music and barbershop merchandise, digital downloads and learning tracks.
---------- INDIVIDUAL PHILANTHROPY
Our related organization, Harmony Foundation International (HFI), pursues gifts from individual donors. Funds raised by HFI are in turn granted to BHS for support of key outreach and educational programs. HFI pursues both annual and major gifts as well as gifts to its endowment.
---------- INSTITUTIONAL PHILANTHROPY
We began exploring a grantseeking strategy in 2015. We determined at the time that four key prerequisites would need to first be in place:
--- • A focus on outcomes
--- • Evaluation and assessment capacity
--- • A deepened commitment to inclusion
--- • A forward looking strategic plan
We worked hard for three years on these prerequisites, and are now actively pursuing institutional funding since they have been met. Our strategy is to use institutional funding for expansion, growth and improvement of our most missional programs as well as to launch new programs and projects with the highest social impact potential.
Where we work
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Total number of conferences held
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Supporting a Global Community of Artists
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Total number of classes offered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Elevating Artistic and Leadership Skills
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Total number of paid seats filled for performances
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Advancing Lifelong Singing as a Core Community Asset
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Total number of volunteer hours contributed to the organization
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Elevating Artistic and Leadership Skills
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our primary and overriding goal at this time is to implement the strategic vision of Everyone In Harmony.
We are animated by two long term impacts we can make in the world:
----- 1. EVERYONE in Harmony -----
We are animated by the desire to bring singing together to scale. This means, literally, everyone singing, listening, or both. This will bring the many benefits we have documented, for individuals and for and between communities, to all.
----- 2. Everyone IN HARMONY -----
Singing together produces several positive impacts for individuals and communities. Singing together is good, and more singing together is even better. We seek to deploy our resources to bring singing together to scale at the broadest possible level by getting more people singing together.
In addition, we believe that we can use the power of singing together to make a specific impact on specific problems or on behalf of specific populations. These impacts will vary from program to program. The list of possibilities include:
--- • Singing together as a way to build healthy masculinity.
--- • Singing together as an intervention for at risk youth.
--- • Singing together as a tool to reduce recidivism.
--- • Singing together as a means of healing and re-entry for wounded warriors.
--- • Singing together as a transition point for end of life.
Our planning horizon for this work stretches out at least twenty years, to our 100th Anniversary in 2038. This vision and underlying strategy is described in the following sections.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our strategic plan begins with this firm statement:
--- "First and foremost, we must unequivocally turn away from any cultural vestiges of exclusion. We must become radically inclusive and diverse, across cultural, ethnic, racial, gender, sexual orientation, social, economic and generational lines. We hereby declare our commitment to this transformation. --- "
We took a large step towards acting upon this commitment with the announcement, in June of 2018, of the momentous decision to welcome women as members.
Behind the vision of Everyone in Harmony stands an extensive strategic plan. This plan is now in the early stages of being implemented, over a projected 20-year time frame. The plan has nine key components:
--- 1. With our “Preservation and Encouragement Through Participation and Engagement” strategy, we will develop a broader array of ways and means to participate and engage in barbershop singing than just chapter membership.
--- 2. With our “Building Communities of Artists” strategy, we will go beyond the traditional chapter model to develop new ways to promote and support the health and growth of barbershop communities of any size in order to more effectively deploy our resources.
--- 3. With our “Driving Impact Through Programs” strategy, we will refine the current array of BHS program activities to a more focused and disciplined set of programs that are consistently evaluated, improved and sharpened based on their delivery of key outcomes and impact.
--- 4. With our “Supporting A Whole World of Singing” strategy, we will become an organization that supports all forms of barbershop singing, including men’s, women’s, and mixed. This will improve the impact and effectiveness of the entities and generate earned income in support of our own mission and purposes, while preserving an all-male barbershop organization.
--- 5. With our “Building Revenue, Brand and Unity” strategy, we will create and fund an integrated marketing approach that is keenly focused on driving revenue opportunities at all points of participation and engagement, while building a consistent, presumptive, unified global barbershop brand.
--- 6. With our “Modernizing Our Governance” strategy, we will redesign our governing structures, from top to bottom, to unleash the impact of legions of engaged volunteers.
--- 7. With our “Measuring Impacts and Outcomes” strategy, we will develop an evaluation and assessment capacity and orientation that will allow us to measure the true impacts and outcomes of what we do.
--- 8. With our “Capitalizing on Culture” strategy, we will build a culture that is committed to impact, capable of operational excellence and empowered to innovate.
--- 9. With our “Taking a Global View” strategy, we will begin to explore a careful, diplomatic transition of our global role from a relatively passive and supportive role to a more intentional catalyst for the global barbershop movement.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The Barbershop Harmony Society has built the capacity, skills, infrastructure and resources to now take the next step towards bringing singing together to scale. The assets we bring to bear on this endeavor include:
--- • A North American footprint of 680 existing communities of artists;
--- • Best of field harmony education offerings through Harmony University (on site and online);
--- • A robust set of tools for effectively operating communities of artists;
--- • A growing music publishing business offering over 6,000 barbershop arrangements;
--- • A strong and growing profile in the music industry via our presence in Nashville;
--- • A strong profile and partnerships with allied choral organizations (American Choral Directors’ Association, Chorus America, National Association for Music Education, etc.);
--- • A set of tested outreach offerings that touch over 1 million per year, focused on engaging youth and their gatekeepers, music educators;
--- • The credibility of barbershop has a legitimate, valuable choral art;
--- • A professional, focused management team;
--- • 5,400 engaged volunteers devoting 3.4 million annual volunteer hours;
--- • A modernized governance structure;
--- • Our philanthropic partnership with Harmony Foundation International, which harnesses the generosity of individual donors to fuel our work.
These assets are necessary, but, in and of themselves, not sufficient to bring singing together to scale. What is necessary is a clear vision for how to take it to scale, a strategy for carrying out the vision, and top-to-bottom commitment of the organization to go forward.
This vision was launched in July of 2017. It is:
Everyone In Harmony
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
From 26 men on a Tulsa rooftop in 1938, we have become the largest singing organization in North America, and likely the largest in the world.
We are proud of this accomplishment, but even more proud of how we are leveraging our success to make an impact in the future. We have built the capacity, skills, infrastructure and resources to now take the next step towards bringing singing together to scale. Please see the “Program” section for documentation of the magnitude and impact of our programs.
We are now poised to invest these assets in the vision of Everyone in Harmony. The launch of the vision, and the ensuing buy-in from our stakeholders, is our most significant recent accomplishment. It represents a seismic shift from a homogeneous, inward focused organization of hobbyists, to an intention of inclusion, artistry and social impact.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
-
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
-
Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually
-
What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America
Board of directorsas of 10/23/2024
Mr. John Santora
CPA; Retired CFO, Baltimore County (MD) Public Library System
Term: 2021 - 2024
Larry Bomback
CFO & Principal/ ProCFO Partners
Steve Denino
(ex-officio) Interim CEO and Executive Director; Barbershop Harmony Society
John Santora
CPA; Retired CFO, Baltimore County (MD) Public Library System
Maria Christian
Sr. Strategist/DTE Energy
Zachary Materne
Commercial Property & Casualty Risk Consultant/USI Insurance Services
Noah Funderburg
Retired/ Associate Dean for Administration Associate Dean for Administration University of Alabama
Dwayne Cooper
Controller/ Home Tax Solutions, LLC.
Kevin Keller
Principal/ Keller Statistical Consulting
Joe McDonald
Entrepreneur
Tim Myers
Managing Partner/JMT Solutions
Eugene Spilker
Dean/School of Chiropractic at Universidad Central del Caribe
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 12/15/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
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