Exhibit Envoy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
731644833
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4155251553
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$227,312
Expenses
$189,450
Assets
$363,280
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • James DeMersman (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Amy Cohen (Executive Dir.): $70,685 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Exhibit Envoy provides traveling exhibitions, online exhibitions, and professional exhibit development and design services to museums throughout the United States. Our mission is to provide institutions with diverse and meaningful traveling exhibitions to strengthen their communities.

What it reported doing in 2025

Traveling and Online Exhibitions -Since our founding in 1988, over three and a half million visitors at community museums across California and the United States have enjoyed and learned from Exhibit Envoys traveling exhibitions. These exhibits tell the stories of our states cultural heritage, its immigrations and emigrations, and its unique place within Western and US history and the world. EE exhibits chronicle movements in art, showcase well-known and soon-to-be-discovered artists, and reflect cultural traditions that span eras and continents. These exhibits bring extinct species to life, trace environmental histories, and contribute to greater discussions about land use, water policy, and agricultural practices. In particular, EE exhibits uplift and amplify the voices and experiences of marginalized peoples by highlighting previously untold or rarely-told histories in truthful, authentic, and respectful ways. EE currently offers over 35 complete physical traveling exhibitions and 11 virtual, online exhibitions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 96% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.3%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 81%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16.7%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.92; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 37.3%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -7% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.3% of revenue deployed · 81% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $153K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $71K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.