Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
954217197
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
3104437058
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Art Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$32,846,163
Expenses
$41,097,279
Assets
$298,206,416
Liabilities
$12,670,317

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

36 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL RUBEL (PRESIDENT)
  • ANN PHILBIN (MUSEUM DIRECTOR/CEO THRU 11/2024)
  • ZOE RYAN (MUSEUM DIRECTOR/CEO AS OF 1/2025)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANN PHILBIN (MUSEUM DIRECTOR/CEO THRU 11/2024): $1,015,419 total reported compensation
  • CYNTHIA BURLINGHAM (DEPUTY DIR/CURATORIAL AFFAIRS): $382,085 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL HARRISON (DEPUTY DIR/ASST TREASURER THRU 12/2024): $358,619 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 hammer museum at ucla believes in the promise of art and ideas to illuminate our lives and build a more just world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Public & academic programs: the hammer's 300+ programs each year are designed to spark meaningful encounters with art and ideas. They include lectures, symposia, university outreach, film series, readings, family events, tours, and musical performances. Program highlights included the turiya rising concert series in conjunction with "alice coltrane, monument eternal; a popular series of art history lectures by john walsh; and popular series like the moma contenders film series and hammer summer concerts. Hammer museums program details are available on our website, www.hammer.ucla.edu.

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 100% 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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 97
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 68.2%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.2%; rating input score 95; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -25.1%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.26; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.8%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 68.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 21 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $28M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1M · 36 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.