The Mark Twain Memorial

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
060685118
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Hartford, CT, USA
Phone
8602470998
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
History Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,010,233
Expenses
$3,593,180
Assets
$14,050,881
Liabilities
$2,200,219

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • JEFFREY L NICHOLS (EXECUTIVE DI): $109,278 total reported compensation
  • JOHN L SENNOTT (INT. ED END): $90,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

From this house. Mark twain changed the way the world sees america and the way americans see themselves. We continue the conversation he began with a window into the timeless relevance of his words, work, and world.

What it reported doing in 2025

Education programs: the memorial provides a number of educational programs for students, teachers and the general public. These include interpretive tours of the historic mark twain house, informational presentations, writing workshops, lectures, cultural performances, family programs, special tours and age-appropriate learning activities for students, and workshops for teachers. Many of these programs examine the life, work and/or era of mark twain, or explore themes addressed in his work.

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

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.2%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 79%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.33 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.4%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.91; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.5%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.8% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.2% of revenue deployed · 79% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $109K · 27 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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 16/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 57/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 53/100.