Scottsdale Museum of the West Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
208862731
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2012
Location
Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Phone
4806869539
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,005,685
Expenses
$6,894,319
Assets
$8,193,195
Liabilities
$2,582,381

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

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TODD BANKOFIER (CEO)
  • WILLIAM J BURNS (FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • TODD BANKOFIER (CEO): $281,304 total reported compensation
  • WILLIAM J BURNS (FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $150,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Increase and diffuse knowledge; encourage the appreciation of art and history of the north american west; maintain a museum or museums to exhibit, collect and preserve objects of artistic and historic interest; and provide facilities for research and publication.

What it reported doing in 2025

Western spirit: scottsdales museum of the west tells the story of the north american west through its visual culture. As we celebrated our 10th anniversary in january 2025, it was also a year of growth and the beginning of a new era which included successful completion of the city of scottsdales museum of the west 12,000 square foot expansion and refurbishment of the museums theater. We welcomed actor/filmmaker kevin costner for our first western spirit award fundraiser and kicked off the completion of the new space with a saloon night fundraiser. We welcomed almost 50,000 guests to the museum and proudly opened 3 new exhibits: 10th anniversary timeline, mac schweitzer: a southwest maverick rediscovered, the west in miniature. Western spirit expanded community accessibility in 2025 by welcoming more than 2500 individuals from underserved communities through intitiatives such as coffee with seniors, act one arizonas culture pass program, and strategic parnterships that reduced financial and transportation barriers to museum participation. Other highlights included delivery of 110 public programs and 40 school tours with nearly 4000 and 3000 attendees, respectively.

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 84.8%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th 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: Pass
    • 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: 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -37.7%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.19; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.32; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.3%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.6% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 84.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $281K · 28 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.