Maine College of Art and Design

Overview

Mission

The college's mission is to provide education in fine arts

What it reported doing in 2024

Instruction - primary mission. The college is a private institution offering bachelor and master of fine arts degree programs to approximately 400 full-time students concentrating in the fine arts, a master of art in teaching program, as well as a wide range of continuing studies classes for individuals of all ages and a publicly accessible gallery, the institute of contemporary art.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 67% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 62% for direct work, and 38% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010378758
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Portland, ME, USA
Phone
2076995045
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Official website

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. 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: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.9%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 77.4%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 23%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.56; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.39; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.7%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.9% of revenue deployed · 77.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 24 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $23M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $469K · 31 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.3M reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Leadership & pay

31 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • LAURA FREID (PRESIDENT): $469,413 total reported compensation
  • ELIZABETH ELICKER (EXECUTIVE VP): $247,765 total reported compensation
  • IAN ANDERSON (VP ACADEMIC AFFAIRS & DEAN): $181,449 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.