Catalina Island Museum

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
951880698
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Avalon, CA, USA
Phone
3105104650
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,004,387
Expenses
$2,982,530
Assets
$27,807,385
Liabilities
$149,470

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Terry Brown (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Sheila Bergman (Executive Dir.): $171,500 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To collect, preserve and promote the culture and history of Santa Catalina Island and to bring unique exhibitions to Catalina.

What it reported doing in 2024

The museum provides educational programming and events that convene local residents and Island visitors in an exploration of the people and cultures that make Catalina unique. The Museum offers music and dance performances, lectures, films, and engaging art education programs for all ages. The Museum's education programs encourage K - 12 students to enjoy the creative process as they think critically, problem-solve, and engage with the Museum's unique collection. The Museum is expanding educational offerings to include new programming for K -12 students, family programs, and initiatives that increase engagement with the community and LA County residents. The new programs will focus on the Island's history, native Tongva culture, and the arts. In September 2022, the Museum started construction on a new 1,000 square-foot Education Center. These capital expansions will support plans to expand all programmatic components. Construction was completed in Spring of 2024.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 44
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 89
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 18%; rating input score 18
  • Program expense ratio: 80.4%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $36.6 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 78.7%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.32; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.8%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 18% of revenue deployed · 80.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $172K · 21 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $1.8M reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 18/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.