The Huntington

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
951644589
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
San Marino, CA, US
Phone
6264052150
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
History Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$160,592,538
Expenses
$100,491,464
Assets
$1,203,426,426
Liabilities
$23,412,675

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KAREN LAWRENCE (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KAREN LAWRENCE (PRESIDENT): $1,102,364 total reported compensation
  • JANET ALBERTI (SVP & CFO): $520,393 total reported compensation
  • RANDY SHULMAN (SVP - ADV & EXT RELATIONS): $415,050 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 Huntington's mission is to support research, education, and the public's enjoyment of its collections in the arts, humanities, and botanical sciences.

What it reported doing in 2024

Art museum division the art museum features british, european, american, and asian art spanning more than 500 years and includes more than 45,000 objects that are preserved, studied, and displayed for the benefit of the public. Extraordinary examples of decorative and folk art, paintings, prints, and drawings, photography, and sculpture are exhibited in the huntington art gallery (the original home of henry e. And arabella huntington) and in the Virginia steele scott galleries of american art. Both buildings also host temporary exhibitions that highlight masterworks from the collections and connect the huntington's historic works with contemporary artistic practice.british and european artdisplayed in an early 20th-century beaux-arts residence, once the winter home of henry e. And arabella huntington, the british and european art collection encompasses a broad range of styles, cultures, and media, from antiquity to the present day. It features one of the most significant holdings of british art outside the united kingdom, including its famous collection of 18th-century grand manner portraits such as thomas gainsborough's the blue boy, joshua reynolds' sarah siddons as the tragic muse, and thomas lawrence's pinkie, images of opulence that continue to inspire contemporary artists such as kehinde wiley. Important examples of 19th-century british landscape paintings by artists such as john constable and j. M. W. Turner echo the lush gardens outside the gallery walls, while one of the largest holdings of material in the world related to the arts and crafts design firm william morris and co. Makes clear connections with the work of american designers charles and henry greene, on view in the Virginia steele scott galleries of american art just a short walk across the grounds.visitors can also discover a broad range of european art, from rogier van der weyden's tender virgin and child (ca. 1460) to tour-de-force bronze sculpture by flemish and italian masters such as giambologna's nessus and deianira (ca. 1575), and the glittering luxury of 18th-century french paintings, sculpture, and decorative art. Selections from the huntington's holdings of old master prints and british drawings, including one of the greatest collections of work by visionary british artist william blake, are also frequently on view. Temporary installations by contemporary artists highlight the continuing relevance of historic works and connect the huntington's collections with current artistic practice. American artthe huntington is home to 31 galleries of american art, ranging from the early colonial period to the present and representing painting, sculpture, photography, film, decorative arts, architecture, and textiles. In the galleries, visitors encounter american folk and self-taught art; paintings about the urban and rural american experience; artworks and methods rooted in indigenous knowledge, informing our presence on the ancestral lands of the tongva and kizh nations; and works that reflect american nation-building and expansion. Consider a powerful marble sculpture of an ancient queen of palmyra by queer 19th-century sculptor harriet goodhue hosmer, a hyperdetailed view of an andean peak by hudson river school painter frederic edwin church, and a monumental carved redwood screen by California african american modernist sargent claude johnson. The architecture and furniture designs of pasadena architects charles and henry greene are highlighted, as are works by frank lloyd wright, the herter brothers, and tiffany & co. American paintings by john singleton copley, thomas cole, edward hopper, miki hayakawa, mabel alvarez, agnes pelton, charles white, and andy warhol grace the galleries, and even more works on paper, textiles, and photographs are part of the holdings. Every artwork in the collection reveals the idiosyncratic vision of an artist grappling with some facet of the broad american experience. The galleries are also activated by contemporary amer

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 71% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 85
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.1%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 80%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 37.4%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.98; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.6%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 67.1% of revenue deployed · 80% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $80.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.1M · 18 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $5.4M reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 42 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.