Modernist Archive Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 263643357
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Durham, NC, USA
- Phone
- 9197408407
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $553,259
- Expenses
- $576,723
- Assets
- $500,077
- Liabilities
- $9,039
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- GEORGE M SMART JR (CHAIRMAN/CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- GEORGE M SMART JR (CHAIRMAN/CEO): $12,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
M.a., inc is a private nc 501(c)3 npo committed to documenting, preserving & promoting modernist architecture. Ncmodernist/usmodernist is m.a. Inc's award-winning educational archive of several thousand modernist houses & their architects in nc/america. The site allows the public to remember & revive the areas's legacy of great architecture. M.a., inc hosts popular modernist house tours, movies & trips, giving the public access to the most exciting residential architecture, past & present. Our events raise awareness, connect people with great design & help preserve these exceptional "works of art" for future generations. The significant modernist houses & architects; preservation of nc modernist houses through educating the public, creating awareness & keeping these homes occupied; and promoting new residential modernist construction, furthering the art form for future generations.
What it reported doing in 2025
Usmodernist.org and ncmodernist.org are award-winning archives of over 25,000 modernist houses and 400 architects. The sites allow the public to research and preserve america's legacy of innovative design. During 2025 modernist archive added over 1000 important modernist houses to the archive and scanned over 400,00 pages of architecture magazines. In addition to maintaining and growing the archives, modernist archive hosts popular movies, tours, and other events, giving the public access to the most exciting residential architecture, past and present, to preserve these "livable works of art" for future generations. During 2025 modernist archive was involved in modernist house tours and other events to over 1000 people and led tours in North Carolina, berlin, zurich, and palm springs.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 79% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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.
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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 91
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 71
- Sustainability: 34
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 98.6%; rating input score 99
- Program expense ratio: 92.1%; rating input score 92
- Fundraising efficiency: $13.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 44; 44th 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: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -4.2%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.87; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.1%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 98.6% of revenue deployed · 92.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $531K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $12K · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 44/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.