Museum of American Finance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133540880
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2129084110
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,881,726
Expenses
$1,827,560
Assets
$686,102
Liabilities
$670,412

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

Leadership & pay

46 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID COWEN (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID COWEN (PRESIDENT/CEO): $217,539 total reported compensation
  • MINDY ROSS (DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS): $193,336 total reported compensation
  • KRISTIN AGUILERA (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $174,621 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Finance impacts everyone. As a socially relevant organization, the museum of american finance seeks to improve understanding of the influence of financial institutions and capital markets on the u.s. And global economies, and on individuals' lives. The nation's only independent museum dedicated to finance and financial history educates the public through exhibits, financial literacy programs and public events. The museum, an affiliate of the smithsonian institution, seeks to empower individuals of all backgrounds to strive toward financial independence, while encouraging curiosity and discovery.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community outreach and educationfinancial education is at the heart of the museum's mission, and more than 113,300 students have participated in its education programs. A highlight of the museum's educational initiatives is the museum finance academy (mfa), a unique personal finance certificate course offered free of charge to high school juniors and seniors. The programwhich is currently presented in an online format provides a foundation in personal finance. This program is offered in the spring and fall, with the opportunity for the top-achieving students to earn partial college scholarships. In 2023, the museum expanded the mfa with a pilot summer program in partnership with the New York public library, which continued in 2024; 1,190 students participated in this program in its first two years. The museum also offers a robust series of more than 30 public events per year. Among the distinguished participants are nobel laureates and industry leaders, as well as award winning authors. Much of the museum's programming shifted to a virtual format in march 2020, leading to an expanded number of events and a four-fold increase in attendance. In 2024, programs were offered in both in-person and virtual formats. Featured speakers included ian bremmer, paulina bren, josh brown, jennifer burns, lawrence cunningham, tom gayner, donald graham, mark higgins, ronald olson, daniel schulman, tevi troy, fareed zakaria and paolo zannoni, among many others. Fareed zakaria and ian bremmer discussed zakaria's new book, age of revolutions, at a moaf/fordham gabelli center program in april. The majority of the museum's programs are presented in partnership with the fordham university gabelli center for global security analysis. Two sponsored panel discussions focused on "ai and finance and "calling the shots: investing in sports." in 2024, the museum also continued its partnership with the New York public library's thomas yoseloff business center on a free financial education series for adults, titled "investing a to z," as well as a free series on retirement planning, titled "retirement a to z." both of these programs attracted large national and international audienceswith nearly 7,000 total participantsand continue in 2025.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% 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.
  • 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63.5%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 65.3%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.92 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd 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: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.9%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.38; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.98; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 38.4%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -15% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -9.8% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -24.9% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 63.5% of revenue deployed · 65.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 40 of 40 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $218K · 46 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $155K reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.