National September 11 Memorial & Museum

Legal name: National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
611745872
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018, Form 990-N 2019
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
(212) 312-8800
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Commemorative Events

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$93,280,595
Expenses
$112,307,344
Assets
$547,842,313
Liabilities
$37,337,671

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

Leadership & pay

69 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELIZABETH L HILLMAN (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELIZABETH L HILLMAN (PRESIDENT & CEO): $856,216 total reported compensation
  • JOSHUA CHERWIN EVP CHIEF (ADVANCEMENT & COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER): $486,298 total reported compensation
  • ALLISON BLAIS (EVP, CHIEF STRATEGY & OPS): $458,652 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To honor the nearly 3,000 people killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the six people killed in the World Trade Center bombing on February 26, 1993, and to commemorate the events of 9/11 through preservation, exhibition, and education.

What it reported doing in 2024

The memorial, dedicated in 2011, welcomed nearly 82 million lifetime visitors through the end of 2024. The museum welcomed more than 25 million people since it opened to the public in may 2014 through the end of 2024. 2024 marked the museum's tenth year of operation. In addition to serving visitors through its core exhibitions, the museum presented a wide slate of educational programming and rotated both individual objects and entire exhibitions. Those rotations expand the museum's storytelling capacity, accommodate conservation requirements, and anticipate loan expirations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 79% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

STRONG - 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: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 76.9%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • 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: 96.3%; rating input score 96; 51st 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: -20.4%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.88; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.8%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 32.7% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.6% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 76.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 52 of 54 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $86.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $856K · 69 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $28.8M reported
  • Consistency: 43 of 43 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 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.
  • 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 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.