Royal Ontario Museum

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
980033472
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Toronto, Ontario, CA
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Reported finances

Revenue
$74,502,137
Expenses
$70,969,045
Assets
$145,345,271
Liabilities
$179,682,631

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

Leadership & pay

49 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOSHUA BASSECHES (Director and Chief Executive Officer)
  • Anila Swarupa (Senior Vice President Exhibition and Gallery Development)
  • Patricia Reynolds (Vice President Finance)
  • Maria Piacente (Senior Vice President Exhibition and Gallery Planning)
  • Constance MacDonald (Vice President Programs Events and Commercial Services)
  • Loredana Drusian (Vice President Major Project Management)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOSHUA BASSECHES (Director and Chief Executive Officer): $385,306 total reported compensation
  • Valerie Huaco (Deputy Director Collections and Research and Chief Innovation Officer): $231,933 total reported compensation
  • JENNIFER WILD (Deputy Director Engagement): $224,201 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 ROM showcases art culture and nature from around the world and across the ages. As the countrys preeminent field research institute and an international leader in new and original findings the ROM plays a vital role in advancing our understanding of the artistic cultural and natural world. Among the top 10 cultural institutions in North America Canadas largest and most comprehensive museum is home to a world-class collection of 18 million art objects and natural history specimens in 40 gallery exhibition spaces.

What it reported doing in 2024

There are multiple program ran throughout the year - Louise Hawley Stone Publications Hennick Entrance and Hennick Court Fund Open ROM etc.

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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. 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: 50
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 55.1%; rating input score 55
  • Program expense ratio: 57.7%; rating input score 58
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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: 95.2%; rating input score 95; 48th 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: 4.7%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.05; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.24; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.9%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.8% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 55.1% of revenue deployed · 57.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 21 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $40.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $385K · 49 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 45 of 45 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 28 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 58/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.