Shelburne Museum Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Operation of a museum of art and americana including impressionist paintings, folk art, quilts, textiles, decorative arts, furniture, american paintings and 17th to 20th century artifacts. During the year ended march 31, 2025, the museum's overall visitors totaled 136,413 including 28,349 school-aged children. Special exhibitions included: shelburne museum organizes and presents exhibitions and programs for the enrichment of the community. Each year the museum presents approximately ten to twelve rotating and permanent exhibitions. During the year 2025, shelburne museum presented the following rotating exhibitions: making a noise: indigenous sound art; sound, art, & ink: higher ground posters; herd: karen petersen's bronze horses; dahlov ipcar: the possibilities of pattern; blueprint of a collection: cyanotype photography of david sokosh; porcelain love letters: the art of mara superior; a grand spectacle in the great outdoors: elliot fernander's circus photography; circus poster selections from the permanent collection; rotating quilt installations from the permanent collection. Special programs: during the fiscal year 2025 in-person programming returned to prepandemic levels, building upon and expanding programs from fiscal year 2024. Shelburne museum hosted programs for the visually impaired and those with alzheimer's disease and dementia; school partnerships with public elementary, middle, and high schools; summer camps that specialized in art programming such as knitting and print making; yoga classes in partnership with a local studio; ongoing webinars regarding conservation efforts; and school programs for students pre-k through college, including underwriting of admission and transportation costs for schools upon request. Shelburne museum continued to host free admission events, including community day and free first fridays, which provides free admission to the public after 3pm on the first friday of every month during the season. This program welcomed a total of 8,609 visitors, 15 food & beverage vendors, and 4 live music performances. In 2025 shelburne museum continued offering sensory friendly fridays/times, to allow children and adults with sensory processing differences time to view special exhibitions in a light and sound adjusted environment. Shelburne museum plans to expand this initiative in the coming years. In addition, shelburne museum continued the winter lights programming, which is an outdoor lightshow & experience that runs from late november through january 1st. This event allows us to engage with our community members during the winter months. Winter lights continues to be an incredibly successful program, welcoming over 58,000 visitors in 2025.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 39.1%; rating input score 39
• Program expense ratio: 66.8%; rating input score 67
• Fundraising efficiency: $16.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 49.2%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.37; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 7.7%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -0.6% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings