National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
150572877
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Cooperstown, NY, USA
Phone
6075477200
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
History Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$17,163,173
Expenses
$16,480,061
Assets
$71,501,041
Liabilities
$3,681,049

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

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOSH RAWITCH (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOSH RAWITCH (PRESIDENT): $489,393 total reported compensation
  • SEAN GAHAGAN (VP RETAIL MARKETING & LIC.): $293,167 total reported compensation
  • SHILPA KETHARAJU (VP FINANCE AND ADMIN/CFO): $243,401 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 national baseball hall of fame and museum is a not-for-profit educational institution dedicated to fostering an appreciation of the historical development of the game of baseball and its impact on our culture by collecting, preserving, exhibiting, and interpreting its collections for a global audience, as well as honoring those who have made outstanding contributions to our national pastime.

What it reported doing in 2024

See schedule othrough its mission, the museum is committed to: collecting, through donation, baseball artifacts, works of art, literature, photographs, memorabilia and related materials which focus on the history of the game over time, its players, and those elected to the hall of fame. Preserving the collections by adhering to professional museum standards with respect to conservation and maintaining a permanent record of holdings through documentation, study, research, cataloging and publication. Exhibiting material in permanent gallery space, organizing on-site changing exhibitions on various themes, with works from the hall of fame collections or other sources, working with other individuals or organization to exhibit loaned material of significance to baseball and providing related research facilities. Interpreting artifacts through its exhibition and education programs to enhance awareness, understanding and appreciation of the game for a diverse audience. Honoring, by enshrinement, those individuals who had exceptional careers, and recognizing others for their signficant achievements.

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 the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.9%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 61.7%; rating input score 62
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st 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: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: 88.2%; rating input score 88; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.34; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.8%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.9% of revenue deployed · 61.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 17 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $10.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $489K · 28 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $743K reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 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 21/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.