Montserrat College Of Art Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521859814
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Beverly, MA, USA
Phone
9789214242
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Higher Education Institutions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$15,355,381
Expenses
$15,877,593
Assets
$18,701,932
Liabilities
$11,314,425

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Brian Pellinen (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Brian Pellinen (President): $260,875 total reported compensation
  • Lisa Shawney (CFO): $166,712 total reported compensation
  • Blyth Hazen (Trustee Faculty Rep): $77,441 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Founded by working creative professionals, montserrat college of art provides an individualized education focused on maximizing the professional and personal success of each student. Structured around experiential learning, studio practice, liberal arts, and professional preparation, the mission of the college is to ensure that its graduates leave equipped with the competence, confidence, and habits of mind to build lives of creative enterprise and community engagement. Montserrat recognizes its role as an economic driver and cultural leader in the region. Montserrat college of art is a non-profit, independent art school, accredited by the new england commission of higher education (neche), through its commission on institutions of higher education to award the bachelor of fine arts degree in 10 studio concentrations. The college is also a member of the association of independent colleges of art and design.

What it reported doing in 2024

Montserrat has an active student body of 360+ students as of fall 2024 and employs 70+ faculty members. Its small size allows for more academic attention to the progress of each individual student. We believe in preparing our students for successful, enjoyable careers in creative fields. That's why we incorporate experience-based learning into our curriculum and assist students with finding meaningful internships that most complete during their junior year. Montserrat college of art offers a wide variety of art, design and writing programs in a student-centered environment that's rigorous, and collaborative.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 79% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 61% for direct work, and 39% for grants.
  • 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 97
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 72.2%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 28th 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: -3.4%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.18; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.6; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.2%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77% of revenue deployed · 72.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 19 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $11.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $261K · 19 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $558K reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.