The Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
953433820
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
2136212766
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Art Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$29,554,913
Expenses
$26,532,037
Assets
$222,192,415
Liabilities
$2,497,481

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

Leadership & pay

45 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CAROLYN CLARK POWERS (BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • JEFFREY SOROS (TRUSTEE, PRESIDENT EMERITUS)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOHANNA BURTON UNTIL 0825 (DIRECTOR): $936,550 total reported compensation
  • CLARA KIM (CHIEF CURATOR & DIRECTOR OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS): $275,907 total reported compensation
  • JILL DAVIS (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $263,917 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 museum of contemporary art (the museum) is a California nonprofit corporation established in 1979 as the only artist-founded museum in los angeles. The museum is dedicated to collecting and exhibiting contemporary art and houses one of the most compelling collections of contemporary art in the world, comprising approximately8,000 objects.the museum is committed to the collection, presentation, and interpretation of art created after 1940, in all media, and to preserving that work for future generations. The museum provides leadership in the field by identifying and presenting the most significant and challenging art of our time, actively supporting the creation of new work, and producing original scholarship. The museum engages audiences through an ambitious program of free exhibitions, educational programs, and publishing.

What it reported doing in 2024

Curatorial and exhibition programs: moca continued its dynamic exhibition program with the collection shows "reverberations," "diary of flowers: artists and their worlds, and "fictions of display," which highlighted artworks from the museum's renowned collection of nearly 8,000 contemporary artworks from 1940 to the present by established and emerging artists. Moca also presented major exhibitions of the artists josh kline and olafur eliasson, and featured the first solo museum presentations in los angeles of artists ana segovia and takako yamaguchi as part of its relaunched moca: focus series. Lastly, the group exhibition at the museum, ordinary people: photorealism and the work of art since 1968," included paintings, drawings, and sculptures by more than forty artists. Moca also presented a robust schedule of performances as part of its wonmi's warehouse program. Highlights included the world premiere of nadya tolokonnikova's (pussy riot) new durational performance installation "police state", the us premiere if wael shawky's acclaimed film installation "drama 1882", and the west coast premiere of dynasty handbag's "titanic depression".

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% 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: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 72.9%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • 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: 97.1%; rating input score 97; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 10.2%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.37; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.8%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81% of revenue deployed · 72.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 33 of 34 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $19.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $937K · 45 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.1M reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.