The Olana Partnership

What it reported doing in 2025

Collections / exhibitions: top's curatorial department continued work to implement an ambitious exhibition, publication, and a suite of national museum activations that will take place in 2026 in support of the church 200 initiative, the bicentennial of frederic church's birth. Led by dr. Elizabeth kornhauser, curator emerita of the american wing at the metropolitan museum of art, and senior consulting curator for the olana partnership, the initiative will feature over 50 institutions across the globe planning exhibitions and installations placing church's work and legacy in a new light. Art. The top team facilitated several loans from the olana collection to external exhibitions organized in recognition of church 200, including those at the metropolitan museum of art, the albany institute of history and art, and middlebury college museum of art. The exhibition frederic church: global artist, to open may 2026 at olana state historic site, is curated by dr. Kornhauser with co-curators dr. Timothy barringer, and dr. Jennifer raab, and is accompanied by a publication from yale university press, featuring contributions from 14 emerging and underrepresented voices in the field of american art. Top will also release another new publication in 2026 titled olana: frederic church's vision of landscape and art with rizzoli electa, with research and editorial support from the curatorial team. Beginning june 2025 top presented the exhibition what's missing? Artworks in the olana landscape, featuring site-specific outdoor art installations by ellen harvey and gabriela salazar. Both artists developed installation projects that responded to "missing" elements of the olana landscape, with salazar's 2-part sculpture situated in olana's historic farm complex, and harvey's interactive "summer house" located on a site near the main house where a similar historic structure is thought to have stood. Both artworks will remain on view at olana through october 2026. Top also continued to offer a collections-based programmatic series a closer look, aimed at fostering conversational "close looking" sessions centered around underseen artworks from the olana collection. In june 2025 a dedicated digitization specialist was hired to begin a 2-year contract digitizing and creating an online catalogue of works by frederic church in the olana collection. This exciting project is ongoing and anticipated to begin rollout in 2026 and is supported by a $300,000 grant from the henry luce foundation. Other ongoing collection-focused projects are underway, with top receiving a $15,000 grant from the cynthia woods mitchell fund for historic interiors awarded by the national trust for historic preservation to support interpretive lighting improvements to olana's historic house interiors.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 76.6%; rating input score 77
• Program expense ratio: 66.8%; rating input score 67
• Fundraising efficiency: $4.49 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Missing
• 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: 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: 1.2%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.43; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 5.1%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 12.9% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings