San Diego Museum of Man Dba Museum of Us

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
951709290
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
Phone
6192392001
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,273,154
Expenses
$3,549,238
Assets
$8,582,856
Liabilities
$297,760

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

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICAH D PARZEN PHD JD (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICAH D PARZEN PHD JD (CEO): $268,467 total reported compensation
  • ERIN SPIEWAK (Executive Dir.): $208,320 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 san diego museum of man, dba museum of us, sits on the unceded ancestral homelands of the kumeyaay nation, in san diegos balboa park. The museum of us extends its respect and gratitude to the kumeyaay peoples who have lived here for millennia. The museum was founded in 1915, as part of the citys panama-California exposition. On august 2, 2020, the museum announced its change of name to the museum of us. This name is a registered doing business as. At its founding, the museum was the epitome of an early 20th century institution of its kind; a place defined by its ethnographic collections and their traditional western european academic display. In january 2012, the board of directors adopted a three-year strategic plan that identified a new mission: inspiring human connections by exploring the human experience. The institutional goal for the museum is to be san diegos dynamic place to go to learn from each other, reflect on our place in the world, and build a better community. We are

What it reported doing in 2024

The museums on-site exhibits and public programs occur at our historic venue in balboa park. We are open every day of the week; closing on christmas, thanksgiving, and for staff trainings. Over 100k visitors are welcomed annually, including group school visitations. Exhibits include hostile terrain 94, postsecret, living with animals, beerology, cannibals: myth & reality, maya peoples: heart of sky, heart of earth, kumeyaay: native californians/iipai-tipai, ancient egypt, race: are we so different, hapa.me: 25 years of the hapa project, race: power, resistance & change, and California tower tours. These exhibits, and complementary public programming, encourage visitors to challenge their assumptions and world views. We steward 75,000+ ethnographic materials, 300,000+ archaeological cultural resources, and 51,000+ photographic images. We also partner with native americans /indigenous peoples globally to facilitate the repatriation of ancestors, sacred objects, and other materials.the museum is committed to removing access barriers so that our programs can be enjoyed by all. Over 4,800 students (adult and youth), their teachers, and chaperones visited the museum in fy25 for both guided and self-guided experiences. Of that total, 3,615 visited on scholarship and via our free educator programs. Our long standing partnership with price philanthropies continued with the museum welcoming 430 students from city heights schools as part of the school in the park program. Almost 250 of their family and friends also joined us for the third grade open house. Other access opportunities included: free entry on us for anyone experiencing financial need.discover & go week-long passes to those with a san diego public library card.free community days, such as the december nights and monthly free tuesdays.in fy25, with the support of our lead access partner the us bank foundation and other generous funders, the museum of us provided free on-site access to approximately 31,000 individuals. In total, we welcomed over 115,000 visitors through our doors. Almost 2,000 participated in our free virtual programming which is hosted on the google arts & culture app.the museum holds accreditation by the american alliance of museums and is an affiliate of the smithsonian institution. Charity navigator rates the museum at four out of four stars, and has done so for nine consecutive years. In march 2024, for the second year in a row, the institute of museum and library services announced that the museum was a finalist for the national medal for museums and libraries, the nations highest honor for museums and libraries who have shown exceptional service to their communities.

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

STRONG - 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.3%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 72.3%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • 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: 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: -8.4%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.42; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.4%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.3% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.3% of revenue deployed · 72.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 24 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $268K · 26 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 12/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.