Grand Rapids Art Museum

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
381387136
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Phone
6168312905
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Art Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,022,607
Expenses
$8,305,505
Assets
$58,067,780
Liabilities
$478,298

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JEFF SMITH (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CINDY MEYERS FOLEY (DIRECTOR AND): $321,208 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTOPHER BRUCE-KAREL (EXEC DEP DIR): $107,988 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Connecting people through art, creativity, and design.

What it reported doing in 2024

Other expenses related to the care and conservation of the permanent collection and the exhibitions shown during this year and expenses related to preparation of exhibitions scheduled for the fiscal year. This includes curatorial, cataloging and research, as well as the purchase of art for the permanent collection.

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 99% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.8%; rating input score 97
  • Program expense ratio: 56.9%; rating input score 57
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -65.4%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.99; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.2%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.9% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.4% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.8% of revenue deployed · 56.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $4.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $321K · 22 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 52/100.