Hunter Museum of American Art
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 620511893
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Chattanooga, TN, USA
- Phone
- 4232678918
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Art Museums
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $6,133,879
- Expenses
- $6,223,549
- Assets
- $44,920,756
- Liabilities
- $1,625,539
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
30 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Virginia Anne Sharber (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Virginia Anne Sharber (Executive Director): $246,091 total reported compensation
- Robert Majors (Director of Internal Operations): $129,581 total reported compensation
- Cara McGowan (Director of Institutional Advancement): $128,443 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 Hunter Museum of American Art collects, preserves, and presents American art and connects the community through inspiring educational and visitor-focused experiences for all.
What it reported doing in 2024
The museum is a leader in youth and adult educational experiences, partnering with area organizations and community members to create customized experiences for a range of audiences, such as Black professionals, teenagers, Title 1 school students, Spanish speaking students and adults, area educators, and prison inmates. Public programs engage with community issues and many feature BIPOC creatives and local leaders, all paid for their participation. Recognizing that affordability can be a barrier to access, the museum offers free admission for youth 17 and under, military families, and social service groups, multiple free programs, and free admission on the first Thursday afternoon of every month. A partnership with Museums for All offers EBT cardholders and their guests deeply discounted admission year-round. Fully ADA compliant, the museum has developed hands-on tools to offer additional avenues of access for low vision guests and those on the autism spectrum and continually seeks to meet audiences where they are.
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 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.
- 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 79
- Transparency & Controls: 84
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 52
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 66.5%; rating input score 67
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th 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: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- 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: Limited
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: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -1.5%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.22; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.1%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 12.2% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 66.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 27 of 27 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $246K · 30 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $170K reported
- Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 12/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.