Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island Foundation

Legal name: Statue of Liberty Ellis Island Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133118415
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2125614500
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$36,399,117
Expenses
$34,024,346
Assets
$103,822,889
Liabilities
$2,640,815

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

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JESSE BRACKENBURY (DIR/PRES/CEO)
  • STEPHEN BRIGANTI (DIRECTOR/PRESIDENT EMERITUS)

Highest reported compensation

  • JESSE BRACKENBURY (DIR/PRES/CEO): $454,525 total reported compensation
  • RENEE WOOD (CFAO & SECRETARY): $258,154 total reported compensation
  • THOMAS TOLENTINO (SENIOR VP & COO): $256,297 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 Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. is dedicated to preserving and restoring the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and to sharing their stories of freedom, hope, and immigration with the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Public awareness, education, and programming: the foundation seeks to inform external audiences about the statue of liberty, ellis island, and the foundation's mission and initiatives. The foundation works closely with the national park service on media relations and is active on social media on facebook, youtube, x, instagram, youtube, and linkedin. The foundation curates and develops virtual experiences that ensure our ability to continue cultivating new audiences while also providing free educational content to benefit teachers, students, and the general public. Materials include informative videos about the ellis island immigrant experience, family history research tools, tips for capturing oral histories, ar and vr experiences, and more. Enlisting subject-area experts from our own staff, history advisory committee, and partner organizations, the foundation hosts educational presentations (in person and virtual) relevant to the monuments' histories and immigrant experiences. The foundation partners for select programming, such as with earthcam to provide views of lady liberty and liberty island.

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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 61
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.2%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 86.4%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.69 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.8%; rating input score 96; 29th 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: 6.5%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.05; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 85.2% of revenue deployed · 86.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 24 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 7 filed program accomplishments · $29.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $455K · 32 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $16.8M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, 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: 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.