Museum of the Rockies Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
816016828
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Bozeman, MT, USA
Phone
4069945275
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,428,062
Expenses
$6,053,061
Assets
$47,091,353
Liabilities
$670,315

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRIS DOBBS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRIS DOBBS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $190,984 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Museum of the rockies invites all people to discover natural science and cultural history. The museum's exhibits, collections, programs, and research create a community resource that brings the world to Montana and shares the northern rockies with the world.

What it reported doing in 2025

The museum operates a bookstore, gift shop, and cafe in the museum. Books, science kits, and other inventory are selected with consideration of how they contribute to the museum's mission. The cafe serves museum visitors, members, and staff to support the overall museum experience. Expenses reported above on line 4c represent functional expenses only. As presented in part ix expenses reported above on line 4c do not include cost of goods sold amounting to $497,148 as presented in part viii, line 10b.

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 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 most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 83
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.3%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 78.5%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.26 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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: 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 35.8%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.78; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.4%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.3% of revenue deployed · 78.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $4.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $191K · 17 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.4M reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.