Bainbridge Island Museum of Art

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
270183255
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2021
Location
Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
Phone
2068424451
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,264,530
Expenses
$4,423,236
Assets
$26,166,050
Liabilities
$435,980

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRIAN MARKS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • SUZANNA DARCY (PRESIDENT)
  • THANGAM CHANDRASEKARAN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • SHEILA HUGHES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SHEILA HUGHES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $282,382 total reported compensation
  • KORUM BISCHOFF (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $161,115 total reported compensation
  • GREG ROBINSON (CHIEF CURATOR): $154,055 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Bainbridge island museum of art (bima) inspires curiosity, wonder and understanding by connecting people with the contemporary art and craft of the puget sound region.

What it reported doing in 2025

Cultural & educational programs: bima's educational and cultural programs continued to support the community, including producing and presenting more than 50 different forms of program outreach. The museum spotlighted the works of more than 100 other artists of multiple genres through digital programs, films, concerts, poetry, lectures, art kit delivery, and humanities programs, both at the museum and virtually. This included off-site, digital and live programs to a community celebration of martin luther king jr day and dia de los muertos, all aimed at keeping people connected to art. Bima placed a special emphasis on reaching vulnerable populations and those experiencing challenges to arts engagement, including those facing isolation, financial hardship, and health/mobility challenges, as well as maintaining its mission to showcase and amplify diverse voices and art forms.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 78% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.4%; rating input score 58
  • Program expense ratio: 54.1%; rating input score 54
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.92; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.8%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.4% of revenue deployed · 54.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $282K · 27 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 58/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.