Paine Art Center & Gardens Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
390785483
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Oshkosh, WI, USA
Phone
9202356903
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Art Museums

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,934,057
Expenses
$3,525,286
Assets
$25,866,681
Liabilities
$1,835,212

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PIERCE SMITH (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • AARON SHERER (EXECUTIVE DI): $189,649 total reported compensation
  • DORIS PEITZ (BUSINESS MAN): $95,913 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Paine art center & gardens, inc. Is a historic estate that serves as a multifaceted museum for learning and inspiration. The core purposes of the organization are to sustain the care of the historic architecture, collections, and gardens; to offer culturally enriching experiences within the beautiful settings; and to inspire people to enjoy, create, and share beauty in their daily lives.

What it reported doing in 2025

Collections & exhibitions - paine art center & gardens, inc. Provides planning, transportation, design, and installation of exhibitions. It is also responsible for preserving museum collections. The organization has a long history of presenting exceptional exhibitions spanning classical to contemporary art. The historic paine property holds a collection of more than a thousand artworks, including paintings, sculptures, furnishings, and decorative objects. The rooms and hallways of the paine mansion display items from nathan and jessie kimberly paine's collection of fine art and decorative objects, most notably, french barbizon and american landscape paintings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, primarily purchased in the mid-1920's. The estate's gardens also feature several sculptures as focal points of the outdoor "galleries". While a majority of the collection was acquired by the paines, it has also grown substantially through donations and purchases while continuing to reflect the subjects and spirit of the founders' original gift. The collection is catalogued for educational and curatorial purposes. The organizations intent is to preserve and maintain their collection which directly furthers the organization's purposes.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 66% 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

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: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.8%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 62.3%; rating input score 62
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -20.2%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.34; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.1%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.8% of revenue deployed · 62.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 23 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $190K · 25 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $451K reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 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: 2 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.

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 5/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.