The American Federation of Arts Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131669334
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2129987700
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Professional Societies, Associations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,147,060
Expenses
$4,411,614
Assets
$19,997,209
Liabilities
$8,856,688

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

Leadership & pay

35 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KIMERLY RORSCHACH (PRESIDENT)
  • TOM L FREUDENHEIM (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ANTHONY HIRSCHEL (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • CAPERA RYAN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • PAULINE WILLIS (DIRECTOR AND CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • PAULINE WILLIS (DIRECTOR AND CEO): $279,741 total reported compensation
  • CAROLINE CHIN (ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR AND CFO): $173,237 total reported compensation
  • NICHOLAS MARINOFF COHN (DIR. OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT): $139,625 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 american federation of arts initiates and organizes a national and international program of art exhibitions, publications, and educational activities to benefit the museum community and enrich the public's experience and understanding of art and culture.

What it reported doing in 2024

Since its founding in 1909, the american federation of arts (afa) has been initiating and organizing exhibitions of both critical and popular acclaim. Afa exhibitions have been presented throughout the united states, as well as in canada, latin america, europe, and asia.the afa's curators initiate concepts for exhibitions, select the leading scholars in the field to act as the guest curator for each project, and then, together with publications, education, and registrarial staff, organize all aspects of the exhibition and its tour, including the publication of the catalog and the development of educational materials.at any given time, the afa has approximately thirty exhibitions in various stages of development. Since the organization's inception, approximately three thousand exhibitions have traveled throughout the world under its auspices. Today, afa exhibitions are shown at museums across the country and abroad, attracting audiences of more than 1.5 million visitors annually-statistics that position the afa in line with the ten most visited art museums in the country.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 62% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64.6%; rating input score 65
  • Program expense ratio: 60%; rating input score 60
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • 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: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.4%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.53; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.44; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.6%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64.6% of revenue deployed · 60% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 30 of 30 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $280K · 35 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $747K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • 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 5/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.