Museum of Modern Art

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131624100
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2127089400
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Art Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$362,023,464
Expenses
$305,261,125
Assets
$2,670,935,041
Liabilities
$361,400,407

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

Leadership & pay

81 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Agnes Gund (President Emerita/Trustee)
  • Ronnie Heyman (President Emerita/Trustee)
  • Sarah Arison (President (Beg 7/2024) / Trustee)

Highest reported compensation

  • Glenn D Lowry (Director/Ex-Officio Trustee): $2,426,708 total reported compensation
  • Lou-Alan Fernandes (Chief Investment Officer): $1,694,755 total reported compensation
  • James Gara (COO/Assistant Treasurer (Thru 6/25)): $1,596,787 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 of Modern Art is a private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of New York Department of Education in 1929 to foster public awareness of modern and contemporary art. (Continued in Schedule O)

What it reported doing in 2024

Museum Operations - Curatorial and curatorial support departments include conservation, learning and engagement programming, exhibitions, creative, publications, library and archives. The Museum was founded in 1929 as an educational institution and maintains a vast breadth of educational programming, which increased in the years after the openings of the renovations and expansions in 2004, 2006, and 2019. (Continued in Schedule O)

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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

STRONG - 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: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 73.7%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.29 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 15.7%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.75; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.4%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 73.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 59 of 59 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $224.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2.4M · 81 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $14.3M reported
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 12 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 23 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 7 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.