United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Mission: Chartered by a unanimous Act of Congress in 1980, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), www.ushmm.org strives to broaden public understanding of the history of the Holocaust through multifaceted programs: exhibitions; research and publication; collecting and preserving material evidence, art and artifacts related to the Holocaust; annual Holocaust commemorations; distribution of educational materials and teacher resources; and a variety of public programming designed to enhance understanding of the Holocaust and related issues, including those of contemporary significance. The museum is America's national institution for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history, and serves as a memorial to the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust.

Financial Efficiency Evaluation:
According to Charity Navigator
(http://www.charitynavigator.org/), America’s leading charity
evaluator, USHMM has an overall rating of 3 stars (four stars is the highest rating.) Charity Navigator provides the following
breakdown of USHMM based on 990 tax returns through 2006:

Overall Rating: 3 stars ***
Organizational Efficiency: Efficiency Rating 2 stars**
Program Expenses: 69.3%
Administrative Expenses: 17.2%
Fundraising Expenses: 13.4%
Fundraising Efficiency: $0.12 (USHMM spends $0.12 to raise $1)

Organizational Capacity: Capacity Rating 3 stars***
Primary Revenue Growth: 6.7%
Program Expenses Growth: 2.9%
Working Capital Ratio (years): 2.41
(USHMM can sustain itself for 2.41 years without
generating new revenue.)
Organizational Capacity refers to an organization’s ability to
sustain itself over time. Charities that exhibit consistent
revenue and expenses growth are more likely to sustain its
programs and services over the long haul.

USHMM has net assets of $313,350,639. Compensation for
its Director, Sara Bloomfield, was $409,543 which
represents 0.55% of expenses. For comparison purposes,
compensation for the President of the American Jewish
World Service (AJWS), Ruth Messinger, was $191,000
which represents 0.79% of expenses.

Recent News:
1) The USHMM recently initiated a new program called
World is Witness. World is Witness, a new “geoblog” from the
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Genocide Prevention
Mapping Initiatives, in partnership with Google Earth,
documents and maps genocide and related crimes against humanity. The initial entries are from a Museum visit to Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to learn about the legacies of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, and the most recent entries are from a Museum visit to South Sudan and a return visit to the Congo.
2) Over a quarter century ago, the Vatican published eleven volumes of selected archival material from the Holocaust period. However, these volumes are not a complete record of the Vatican’s actions during the Holocaust. Recognizing the urgency imposed by the advanced age of Holocaust survivors who deserve definitive answers, the Museum encourages the Vatican to follow up this gesture with a decision to make full and complete access to all of its archives from the Holocaust period its highest priority. The Museum stands ready to participate in any way to achieve this goal.

Recommendations:
The USHMM could earn a higher rating from Charity Navigator if it improved its efficiency rating. This could be accomplished by directing a higher percentage of it expenses to its program expenses and by reducing its administrative and fundraising expenses. For comparison purposes, Charity Navigator has given the American Jewish World service a four star efficiency rating because 85.0% of its expenses are used on program expenses; only 69.3% of USHMM’s expenses are used for its programs.

Next week’s blog: The American Jewish Committee