New Art Trust

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943284917
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2018
Forms available
Form 990 2018
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4155630887
Rating
52
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Reported finances

Revenue
$50,867
Expenses
$49,982
Assets
$1,032,839
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • GLENN D LOWRY (DIRECTOR): $5,113,682 total reported compensation
  • NEAL BENEZRA (DIRECTOR/SECRETARY): $1,017,643 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The new art trust collects media art and related works to benefit the san francisco museum of modern art, the museum of modern art, New York, and tate, united kingdom and supports the advancement of media art conservation, exhibition, and interpretation, especially at the three aforementioned institutions.

What it reported doing in 2018

Care and utilization of media art and library collectionone of new art trust's ("nat") most important conservation and collection management tasks undertaken during the year was a thorough review of its database, qi. The database, created in 2014-16, includes records for each component of all collection works. After more than three years of usage, the database was due for an overview/update to ensure that it continues to meet nat's needs. A two-day on-site consultation with the collection's vendor, keepthinking, resulted in specific changes/updates to the database's fields and functionality. Additionally, the collection's component numbering system was updated to better reflect the increasing complexity of nat's artworks, particularly in regard to digital files and masters. Andy warhol's original 16mm films, from previously unknown experimental 1965 television commercials for cadence--a laxative product being introduced at the time-- were scanned at a 2k digital resolution by a trusted vendor under nat's supervision. The new digital copy will be used for (1) exhibition (on loan to the art institute of chicago's iteration of andy warhol: from a to b" from october 2019 - january 2020) and (2) conservation--a 2k digital resolution scan would allow for creation of new film, as well as, digital elements for future use.a review of all time-based artworks was undertaken to systematically document (1) the status of master material, (2) to determine whether these masters are of sufficient quality to meet current best practices in the field, and (3) in cases where there may be concerns about master quality, to decide what the most appropriate format for that master would be. Conservation tasks have also included oversight of outgoing artwork loans including bill viola's "he weeps for you" (barnes foundation, philadelphia), and cardiff and miller's "40 part motet" (turner contemporary, united kingdom).

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and total assets are large relative to annual expenses, but may not be spendable cash. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 49
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 49
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 55.2%; rating input score 55
  • Program expense ratio: 56.1%; rating input score 56
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: 40%; rating input score 40; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Limited
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.7%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 20.66; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2,103%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 55.2% of revenue deployed · 56.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $28K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $5.1M · 5 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 12 of 12 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 40/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 56/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.
  • High — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization is recorded as not currently operating in California.