Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
060653111
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Hartford, CT, USA
Phone
8602782670
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Art Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,554,764
Expenses
$19,280,762
Assets
$134,751,591
Liabilities
$1,875,614

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

Leadership & pay

41 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JEFFREY N BROWN (PRESIDENT, CEO & EX-OFFICIO TRUSTEE)

Highest reported compensation

  • JEFFREY N BROWN (PRESIDENT, CEO & EX-OFFICIO TRUSTEE): $438,371 total reported compensation
  • MATTHEW HARGRAVES (MUSEUM DIRECTOR; EX-OFFICIO TRUSTEE): $253,568 total reported compensation
  • SHARMIN MAHMUD (OUTGOING DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $202,265 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Holding its collection in trust for all people, the wadsworth atheneum is dedicated to advancing knowledge and inspiring everyone to experience and appreciate excellence in art and culture.

What it reported doing in 2024

Curating and curatorial research fy2025the museum's curators research, care for, and exhibit collections including paintings, sculptures, decorative arts (furniture, glass, ceramics, and metalwork), works on paper, costume and textiles, and moving image art, ranging in date from antiquity to contemporary and including works from most continents. The wadsworth also lends collection objects to exhibitions around the world. In fy25 we released 28 objects as part of our outgoing loans program.we lend to a host of institutions within the united states and a few in europe, a few are noted below: phillips collection museum of fine arts boston katonah museum of artbucerius kunst forumcolumbia museum of artflorence griswold museumfarnsworth art museum palazzo barberinimusee jacquemart-andrethrough purchases, gifts, and bequests the wadsworth acquired works of art including but not limited to works in the contemporary, european, and american collection areas.fy25 exhibition highlights: made in hartfordmatrix 198: steffani jemisondivine geometrypaper, color, line: european master drawingsentre mundosunsettledancient bronzesprints charming: recent gifts and acquisitions

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

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: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 57
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 84.1%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.65 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • 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: 94.6%; rating input score 95; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -82.7%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.99; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.2%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.4% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 84.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 35 of 37 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $16.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $438K · 41 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.7M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • 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.

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.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.