Design Museum Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
270816164
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2011
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
8882870167
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Visual Arts Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$240,185
Expenses
$246,402
Assets
$56,035
Liabilities
$664,336

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Maria Villafranca (Interim Executive Director)
  • Aidan Borer (President)
  • Ashley Dunn (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Maria Villafranca (Interim Executive Director): $75,292 total reported compensation
  • Liana Mestas (Administrator): $50,817 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 inspire social change through the transformative power of design through public programming, education initiatives, and publications.

What it reported doing in 2024

CoDesign Collaborative hosts two ongoing educational programs. The Current is a virtual, student-led lightning talk series that highlight vital topics in design. College-level students invite a professional leader to engage in a fireside conversation on a topic related to design and social impact. Through these student-curated conversations, we met the emerging voices shaping the future of design and the creative leaders at the forefront of design impact. The CoDesign Student Challenge is an annual summer program that provides teens with hands-on design education in partnership with leading brands, industry professionals, and clients. Design Educators lead students through a two-part workshop, prototyping concepts and realizing innovative designs. The students are compensated for their time in line with CoDesign Collaboratives commitment to equity. Design Educators lead students through a two-part workshop, prototyping concepts and realizing innovative designs.

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

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: 48
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 52.7%; rating input score 53
  • Program expense ratio: 51.4%; rating input score 51
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.6%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.23; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 11.86; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 51.2%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.6% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.1% per year; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 52.7% of revenue deployed · 51.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $127K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $75K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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 53/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 51/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 17/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.