The National Museum of African American Music

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
621867910
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
6153018724
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
History Museums

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,780,765
Expenses
$9,716,975
Assets
$29,792,870
Liabilities
$8,464,474

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • WILLIAM JEFFRIES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • C DION BROWN (PRESIDENT & CEO (END 12/24))

Highest reported compensation

  • C DION BROWN (PRESIDENT & CEO (END 12/24)): $293,129 total reported compensation
  • WILLIAM JEFFRIES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $170,577 total reported compensation
  • RUSSELL HENLEY (IT DIRECTOR): $139,780 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 national museum of african american music's mission is to educate the world, preserve the legacy, and celebrate the central role african americans play in creating the american soundtrack.

What it reported doing in 2024

Fisk jubilee singers traveling exhibit on may 10, 2025, the groundbreaking traveling exhibition "celebrating the fisk jubilee singers' sacred journey," opened at the national museum of african american music. Nashville is the inaugural host site for the 2,500 square-foot interactive experience, which tells the remarkable story of how a group of student performers from nashville's fisk university transformed american music and society in the late 1800s. Through strategic partnerships with hbcus, african american churches, and cultural institutions across the southeast, nmaam secured commitments for the exhibit to reach millions of visitors over its multi-year tour. The project exemplifies nmaam's mission in action preserving and celebrating african american musical heritage while creating educational experiences that will inspire new generations to appreciate the enduring impact of these pioneering performers.from nothing to something (fn2s) is designed to engage youth in the musical and lyrical construction of african american musical traditions and help them understand societal factors that have influenced the creation and innovation of music by african americans. Through fn2s, students connect the instrument to geographical locations, cultural origins, and the conditions of how the instrument was used in america using everyday objects such as spoons and cigar boxes to create harmonizing melodies.interludes camp is a 5-day program that takes place at the national museum of african american music during fall, winter, spring, and summer breaks. The program allows students from title 1 schools to immerse themselves in the rich world of music production while maintaining academic momentum. Beyond music instruction, students become producers, curators, and performers of their own musical story. Nmaam's rivers of rhythm institute for social education (rrise) continues to provide a space for educators through a hybrid in-person and virtual format that makes the program accessible to all. Educators learned how to infuse classroom experiences with engaging stories and tools that teach core curriculum while expanding how they and their students view everyday life through the lens of african american contributions and impact.

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 95% 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. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 55
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.6%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 51.1%; rating input score 51
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.23 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -24.9%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.07; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.2%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 20.9% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.7% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.6% of revenue deployed · 51.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $293K · 23 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $792K reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 51/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.