Petersen Automotive Museum

Legal name: Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
954739699
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Los Angeles, CA, US
Phone
323-930-2277
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$31,661,696
Expenses
$29,820,222
Assets
$239,490,534
Liabilities
$53,260,370

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

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TERRY KARGES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • TERRY KARGES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $632,245 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL BODELL (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $466,748 total reported compensation
  • TOM TORII (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $339,815 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Discover over 100 years of automotive history across 17 exhibitions featuring the world's greatest vehicles

What it reported doing in 2025

Collections and curatorial programs provide for the acquisition and preservation of collection objects that advance the mission of the museum. These programs include the maintenance and restoration of collection vehicles and other objects. The museum also acquires, preserves, and archives two dimensional objections (printed matter, photographs, diagrams, etc.), books and films related to the automotive world. Curatorial staff conduct research and produce written content that interpret these objects for the public as well as for scholars.

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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.6%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 84.3%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 92.5%; rating input score 93; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 5.8%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.03; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.3%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 84.6% of revenue deployed · 84.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $25.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $632K · 28 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.7M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 6 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.