Chinese American Museum Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
821782141
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2028383180
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$850,591
Expenses
$843,399
Assets
$75,916
Liabilities
$41,940

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JENNY LIU (VICE PRESIDENT/SECRETARY/TREASURER)
  • DAVID UY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (THRU FEBRUARY))

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID UY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (THRU FEBRUARY)): $39,911 total reported compensation
  • JENNY LIU (VICE PRESIDENT/SECRETARY/TREASURER): $11,772 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 chinese american museum foundation (the museum) is dedicated to the collection, preservation, research, and exhibition of chinese american historical and cultural materials reflecting the breadth and depth of the experiences of chinese americans in the united states.

What it reported doing in 2024

The museum's program services include the continued development of the five story destination in downtown Washington, dc that features permanent and special exhibits and events. The museum serves to positively impact people from all backgrounds, across the country and abroad through curated exhibits, online experiences, educational programs and community events. The museum is open to the public four days a week, and admission is free. There museum has 300-800 visitors per month.the following events took place at the museum during 2024:-book launch presentation: corky lee's asian america, thursday, april 11, 2024.-meet the designer: hangyu gong - qipao culture, thursday, april 25, 2024.-first friday of each month, dupont circle's museums, galleries, and cultural exhibits open their doors to the public after hours. Camdc hostedthe event on friday, april 5, 2024.-conversation with francesca zambello, artistic director, Washington national opera, christopher tin about turandot at camdc, april 2024.-remembrance of the shangrao military & civilian rescue of the dolittle raiders during wwii, may 2024.-longhua temple chinese vegetarian food exhibition at the ronald reagan building and international trade center (reagan) on september 26, 2024.-under the bodhi tree: art and architecture of the longhua temple features sculptures and images illustrating buddhism, its cultural practices and buddhist art in modern society. March 2024 to december 2024.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 87% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.4%; rating input score 65
  • Program expense ratio: 65.5%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.8%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.09; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.55; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.1%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 23.3% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -19.6% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.4% of revenue deployed · 65.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $553K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $40K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 50/100.