Bishop Museum
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 990161980
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Honolulu, HI, USA
- Phone
- 8088484161
- Rating
- 64
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- History Museums
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $28,096,033
- Expenses
- $20,274,339
- Assets
- $100,283,281
- Liabilities
- $11,742,775
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
33 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DEE JAY MAILER (PRESIDENT AND CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- DEE JAY MAILER (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $227,200 total reported compensation
- GREGORY CHANG (FORMER VP, CFO & TREASURER): $158,505 total reported compensation
- RAYMOND KONG (FORMER VP, GEN COUNSEL, ASST SEC): $155,996 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Bishop museum inspires our community and visitors through the exploration, celebration, and perpetuation of the extraordinary history, culture, and environment of hawai'i and the pacific.
What it reported doing in 2024
Public programs - public programs provide informal educational experiences that tell the story of Hawaii and the pacific. The program takes full advantage of the comprehensive resources of the museum's collections and research products, and provides visitors and Hawaii residents with diverse programs. For the fiscal year june 30, 2025, the museum had approximately 92,331 resident and 84,408 non-resident visitors, and 13,344 military visitors.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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 - Most voting board members are independent and program spending has grown recently. 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: 47
- Transparency & Controls: 54
- Accountability: 98
- Sustainability: 80
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 41.2%; rating input score 41
- Program expense ratio: 56.9%; rating input score 57
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.95 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: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 96%; rating input score 96; 30th 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: 27.8%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.95; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 41.2% of revenue deployed · 56.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 24 of 25 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $11.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $227K · 33 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.7M reported
- Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 41/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 46/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 51/100.