The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
043542086
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Amherst, MA, USA
Phone
4135596314
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Art Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,629,515
Expenses
$5,448,534
Assets
$20,865,214
Liabilities
$583,992

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JENNIFER SCHANTZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JENNIFER SCHANTZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $320,241 total reported compensation
  • REBECCA GOGGINS (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $163,715 total reported compensation
  • ANDREA POWERS (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION): $163,715 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 eric carle museum of picture book art is the international champion of picture book art. The carle houses a rich and deep collection of art of more than 20,000 works of art from more than 300 picture book artists, including eric carle (the very hungry caterpillar), and illuminates its collection through exhibitions, education, programming, and art-making - making it a critical resource for picture book artists and authors, and art-loving communities locally, nationally, and abroad. The carle's mission is to elevate picture book art and inspire a love of art and art creation.

What it reported doing in 2024

1. The carle organized six original art exhibitions in amherst and toured five exhibitions to museums in the u.s. And abroad, reaching almost half a million people. 2. The museum's art studio provided hands-on art-making activities to all of our visitors (on a drop-in basis) whenever the museum was open; it also offered dozens of specialized workshops, including professional development for educators, throughout the year. 3. The museum hosted picture book artists and authors for story times, lectures, art demonstrations, and book signings so visitors can learn about how books are made and meet their creators.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 79% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 52
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.8%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 72.7%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.53 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • 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: 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: 17.8%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.83; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.8% of revenue deployed · 72.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $320K · 24 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $595K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.