Whitney Museum of American Art

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131789318
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
New York, NY, United States
Phone
(212) 570-3600
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Art Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$191,356,000
Expenses
$96,002,000
Assets
$1,138,583,000
Liabilities
$111,126,000

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

Leadership & pay

60 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FERN KAYE TESSLER (BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • MIYOUNG LEE (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JULIE OSTROVER (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ROBERT ROSENKRANZ (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SCOTT ROTHKOPF (ALICE PRATT BROWN DIRECTOR): $999,235 total reported compensation
  • AMY ROTH (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $508,376 total reported compensation
  • IDEHEN ARUEDE (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $504,275 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 Whitney Museum of American Art explores American art and critical issues in contemporary culture through its exhibitions and collection.

What it reported doing in 2024

Exhibitions and permanent collection in fy25, the whitney presented 13 exhibitions. These included: the whitney's collection: selections from 1900 to 1965 (june 28, 2019 - may 1, 2025); survival piece #5: portable orchard (june 29, 2024 - january 5, 2025); what it becomes (august 24, 2024 - january 12, 2025); mark armijo mcknight: decreation (august 24, 2024 - january 12, 2025); hyundai terrace commission: torkwase dyson (march 20, 2024 - february 9, 2025); edges of ailey (september 25, 2024 - february 9, 2025); jeanne moutoussamy-ashe and the last gullah islands (december 5, 2024 - may 1, 2025); (see schedule o)

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 62% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 84
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.2%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 65.5%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.51 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 97.8%; rating input score 98; 54th 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: 49.8%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.86; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 94.2% of revenue deployed · 65.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 45 of 46 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $62.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $999K · 60 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.9M reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 13 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.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.