The Art Students League Of New York Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 131844837
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- New York, NY, USA
- Phone
- 2122474510
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Arts Education
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $7,496,837
- Expenses
- $14,767,647
- Assets
- $122,053,002
- Liabilities
- $1,600,291
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
20 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Michael Hall (Artistic / Executive Director)
- Jack Howard-Potter (Vice President)
- Robin Lechter Frank (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Michael Hall (Artistic / Executive Director): $254,540 total reported compensation
- Kathleen Hayes (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $181,175 total reported compensation
- Rajdai Hardowar (Director Of Finance): $142,737 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 Art Students League of New York delivers affordable, high caliber art education. Guided by world-class artists in our atelier-style studios and supported by our gallery, permanent collection, community programs, and robust scholarships, the League offers accessible pathways to learning fundamental studio-based skills.
What it reported doing in 2024
Seeds of the league program through seeds of the league and our unique relationship with the New York city department of parks and recreation, we are reaching out beyond our walls into the broader community. Teaching artists are placed in parks & recreation centers around the city to offer structured after-school arts programming where little or no art instruction was previously available. The objectives are to give the children a sense of teamwork and creativity, two aspects which will remain important to them for the rest of their lives. For example, this was illustrated by explaining and showing pictures of lascaux aboriginal caves and the collaborative efforts used in creating them and how young teens were the first to discover the caves. The next step was to ask students what they would draw on caves to be found for future generations. Using kraft paper, pastels and other materials they created their own imagery. The teaching artist created many stencils out of mylar, which the children helped spray onto the paper further enhancing the look of a cave. This is just one of many projects used to inspire creativity, teamwork, and self confidence. They can't do it incorrectly - it's art.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 74% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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.
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: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 77
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 41
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 81.7%; rating input score 82
- Fundraising efficiency: $1.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- 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: 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: -97%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.26; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.7%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 81.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $12.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $255K · 20 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.1M reported
- Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 9 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.
- 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 3/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.