Lemay-americas Car Museum

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911867848
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Tacoma, WA, USA
Phone
2537798490
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,255,494
Expenses
$5,029,196
Assets
$49,635,311
Liabilities
$6,704,465

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

Leadership & pay

44 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • David Madeira (Vice Chair & CEO,AAT)

Highest reported compensation

  • David Madeira (Vice Chair & CEO,AAT): $365,722 total reported compensation
  • Sandy Colt (Controller): $152,308 total reported compensation
  • Gary Yamamoto (Exec Dir, ACM (left 7/24)): $143,221 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 LeMay America's Car Museum preserves and interprets the history and technology of the automobile and its influence on American culture. The museum is dedicated to securing and interpreting the valuable LeMay Collection and to acquiring, preserving and interpreting additional artifacts that explore broad themes of American mobility and lifestyle in an instructive and entertaining manner.

What it reported doing in 2024

Collection and Exhibitions: The Museum is dedicated to secure and interpret the extensive LeMay car collection as well as to acquire, preserve and interpret additional mobility collections. There are approximately 260 cars in the collection. The Museum breaks the traditional design of static displays of cars by rotating exhibitions from its vast collection and showcasing auto manufacturers' achievements and future directions in design, technology and product development. The Museum opened 2 exhibits in 2024.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 62% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.6%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 76.7%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.08 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.9%; rating input score 95; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -18.2%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.87; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.6%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4.1% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -8.5% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.6% of revenue deployed · 76.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 37 of 39 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $366K · 44 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 46 of 46 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.