American Academy in Rome
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 131623881
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- New York, NY, USA
- Phone
- 2127517200
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- International Academic Exchange
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $13,491,423
- Expenses
- $15,722,550
- Assets
- $178,341,071
- Liabilities
- $12,809,652
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
53 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MARK ROBBINS (PRESIDENT & CEO (FORMER))
- PETER N MILLER (PRESIDENT & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- PETER N MILLER (PRESIDENT & CEO): $561,781 total reported compensation
- TARA MIA PAONE (CHIEF FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATION): $325,107 total reported compensation
- MARK ROBBINS (PRESIDENT & CEO (FORMER)): $286,154 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The american academy in rome is a residential institute for advanced work in the arts and humanities.
What it reported doing in 2024
Arthur and janet c. Ross library: with over 180,000 titles focusing on ancient studies and their artistic and architectural historical afterlives, the library is a resource for all those in rome with specific interests in greek and latin literature and mediterranean archaeology. The photographic archive holds over 100,000 images across specialized collections documenting archaeology, architecture, art, landscape design, and contemporary photography, along with an extensive visual record of the academy's history. The norton-van buren archaeological study collection comprises 9,000 artifacts, ranging from greek 8th-century bce objects to late roman common ware, as well as over 200 greek and latin inscriptions, offering one of the most significant teaching and research collections of its kind in rome.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 62% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 93% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 81
- Transparency & Controls: 75
- Accountability: 93
- Sustainability: 41
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 71.5%; rating input score 72
- Fundraising efficiency: $3 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th 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: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Fail
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- 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: 95.6%; rating input score 96; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -16.5%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.34; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 11.8%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 0.7% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 71.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 43 of 45 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $11.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $562K · 53 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $384K reported
- Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.