International Petroleum Museum and Exposition Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
721243629
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Morgan City, LA, USA
Phone
9853843744
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Science and Technology Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$77,203
Expenses
$142,138
Assets
$868,952
Liabilities
$284,314

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Virgil Allen (President/Director)
  • Bryce Merrill (Vice-President/Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Katherine V Allen (Secretary-Treasurer/Director): $17,000 total reported compensation
  • Virgil Allen (President/Director): $4,400 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 museum gathers, saves, preserves, and interprets artifacts and information about the offshore oil and gas industries and educates the public concerning the history, culture, and working conditions of these industries and on the impact and significance of these Cajun-born industries upon the rest of the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

The museum educates the public in the history, culture, and working conditions of the offshore oil and gas industries by giving guided tours of the historic offshore drilling rig Mr. Charlie. Over 3,479 tourists from across the country and around the world visited the museum. The guided tours bring the tourists throughout the offshore drilling rig including the living and working areas of the rig. With the hands-on, live aboard training done on the rig, the tourists get to visit and actual working rig giving them a true offshore rig experience.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 68% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 77.3%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $28.69 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: -84.1%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.11; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.33; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.1%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 77.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $110K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $17K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.