Rubin Museum of Art Aka the Shelley & Donald Rubin Cultural Trust

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
226799567
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2126205000
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Private Operating Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$15,557,557
Expenses
$17,437,416
Assets
$203,085,631
Liabilities
$4,478,513

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NOAH P DORSKY (BOARD PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARIE HELENE CHRISTODOULOU (CHIEF FINANCIAL & OPERATING OFFICER): $387,557 total reported compensation
  • TIMOTHY MCHENRY (CHIEF PROGRAMMATIC OFFICER): $334,671 total reported compensation
  • MICHELLE BENNETT SIMORELLA (DIRECTOR OF CURATORIAL ADMIN & COLLECTIONS): $247,893 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 rubin museum of art in chelsea, New York city, explores and celebrates himalayan art, cultures, and ideas across history and into the present. With its globally renowned collection, centered largely around art from the tibetan plateau, the rubin fosters understanding and appreciation of himalayan art by interpreting and relating it to our shared human experience today. Inspired by the tenets of buddhism, hinduism, and indigenous religions, and aligned with ongoing research into learning, behavior, and the brain, the rubin offers innovative exhibitions and programs that examine provocative ideas across the arts and explore the mind. Through this work, the museum serves as a space for reflection and personal transformation, opening windows to inner worlds so visitors can better navigate outer ones.

What it reported doing in 2024

Public programs and visitor engagement: the rubin's public programs offer diverse audiences meaningful ways to engage with the art and cultures of the himalayas. In 2024, adult workshops and talks centered on the unifying theme of reframe, inspired by the buddhist concept of non-attachment, sparking conversations on how releasing attachments can create space for new ways of seeing, thinking, and being. Himalayan heritage programs provided insights into the art, cultures, and sacred traditions of the himalayan region, and weekly mindfulness meditation sessions invited participants to find stillness, inspired by an artwork from the rubin's collection. We served visitors with alzheimer's and dementia and their care partners, as well as close to 4,000 school age children and accompanying adults, offering them custom offerings informed by mindfulness and himalayan art and cultures. We worked with 225 low-income students in schools as part of our math and mandalas program, and educators for professional development workshops, providing them with an entre to the rubin's mandala lab curriculum. Expanding our global initiatives, we launched a grant program and the rubin museum himalayan art prize with the aim of supporting the work of artists and researchers inspired by himalayan artistic and cultural practices.

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 98% 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: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 67.1%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.6 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Pass
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Pass
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -12.1%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.65; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.1%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.2% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.8% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 67.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $11.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $388K · 23 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.2M reported
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • 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 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.