Tacoma Art Museum
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 910697444
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Tacoma, WA, USA
- Phone
- 253-272-4258
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Art Museums
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,129,551
- Expenses
- $5,529,046
- Assets
- $58,282,909
- Liabilities
- $293,270
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
24 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Pamela Transue (President)
- Dona Ponepinto (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Andrew Maus (Executive Dir.): $225,626 total reported compensation
- Matt Daugherty (Director of Operations): $115,610 total reported compensation
- Nicole Curtis (Director of Finance): $51,302 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Tacoma Art Museum connects people through art.
What it reported doing in 2024
TAM's education program empowers visitors to find and create meaning with art in order to build an empathetic and collaborative community through programs and tours, in gallery activities and audio tours, art workshops and creative opportunities. During one of TAM's most popular programs, Neighborhood Nights, the museum is free and open to the public every Thursday from 5-8pm.
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 the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 74
- Transparency & Controls: 74
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 43
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 98.8%; rating input score 99
- Program expense ratio: 54.8%; rating input score 55
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.41 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 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: 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -76.7%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.54; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.1%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -17.6% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 98.8% of revenue deployed · 54.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $226K · 24 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 55/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 10/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.