Museum of Fine Arts
Overview
Mission
See schedule o.
What it reported doing in 2024
Operating support: expenses: $24,009,233 revenue: $0operating support consists of all other areas of the museum. Including protective services, facilities and other areas which support the operations of the museum and its mission.parking facilities: expenses: $1,304,091 revenue: $4,877,518the museum owns a parking garage and has two open-air parking lots. All of these facilities are open to members and visitors to the museum. The operation of adjacent parking lots by the museum, in areas of insufficient parking spaces for the use of its visitors, contributes importantly to the museum's exempt purpose by encouraging visitation and longer periods viewing of its collections, and special exhibitions. Any profits from the fee charged for the use of the lot is placed in the general operating fund.food services: expenses: $154,800 revenue: $1,914,669the museum is organized and operated as an art museum. The eating facilities which are contracted and managed by ra, are open to the museum staff, employees, and members of the public visiting the museum and are of a size commensurate with accommodation of these special groups of patrons.membership & visitors: expenses: $4,545,440 revenue: $10,994,317over 1,053,000 visitors attended the museum during fiscal year 2025. During the fiscal year 2025, there were more than five community days during which admission charges were waived. The museum has over 58,000 active member households. There are 8 levels of annual membership with fees ranging from $90 to $300. Each category offers a wide variety of privileges, such as free admission, publications, reciprocal member benefits at other major art museums around the u.s. And special events.other misc. Program services: expenses: $13,353,850 revenue: 7,877,518
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 63% of the money available for current operations came from contributions.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The nonprofit carried out 100% of its reported program work directly.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 042103607
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Headquarters
- Boston, MA, USA
- Rating
- 69
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts, Culture, and Humanities
The verdict
SUPPORTED - Most voting board members are independent and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 59
- Transparency & Controls: 61
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 82
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 61.7%; rating input score 62
- Program expense ratio: 58.6%; rating input score 59
- Fundraising efficiency: $13.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
- Public monitoring controls: Limited
- Public policy transparency: Limited
- Public financial transparency: Limited
- Impact reporting controls: Limited
- Public relationship transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Public governance controls: Limited
- Zakat policy transparency: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 24.3%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Operating reserve ratio: 11.21; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.5%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -2.6% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 61.7% of revenue deployed · 58.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 41 of 41 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $82.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $1.2M · 53 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 38 of 39 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
- Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link