American Museum of the Moving Image
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
SEE SCHEDULE OMUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (MOMI) IS THE ONLY MUSEUM IN THE U.S. THAT EXPLORES THE CENTRAL TECHNOLOGY OF THE PRESENT MOMENT.SCREENS ARE ALL AROUND US. WE USE THEM TO EDUCATE, ENTERTAIN, AND COMMUNICATE. THE MOVING IMAGE-ENCOMPASSING FILM, TELEVISION, VIDEO GAMES, AND OTHER FORMS OF DIGITAL MEDIA-SHAPES HOW WE SEE AND FEEL THE WORLD. WITH EXHIBITIONS?AND SCREENINGS ON THE ART, HISTORY, TECHNIQUE, AND SCIENCE OF THE MOVING IMAGE, MOMI PRESENTS THE REAL AND IMAGINED WORLDS OF OUR PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. WITH GROUND-BREAKING EDUCATION PROGRAMS, DIGITAL LITERACY INITIATIVES, AND CUTTING-EDGE MEDIA LABS, MOMI IS NOT JUST A MUSEUM BUT ALSO A PLACE WHERE WE CAN ALL MAKE SENSE OF THE FORCES AND EXPERIENCES THAT CREATE OUR SHARED REALITY. MOMI IS AN OPEN WORLD IN THE HEART OF BOTH ASTORIA, NYC, AND OUR ENTIRE CREATIVE COMMUNITY.
- Income
- $12.1 million
- Spending
- $9.0 million
- Spent on programs
- 80%
- Reserves
- 0.5 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 35%
- Employees
- 108
- Volunteers
- 50
- Highest pay
- $351,799, executive director
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 59 out of 100. Higher than 26% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $10m to $100m).
Reserves
4 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 0.5 months of spending.
Debt
10 of 20It owes 42% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 26% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 51% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1580% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 8 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 34% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $10m to $100m).
Independent board
25 of 2529 of 30 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (3)
- $3.7 million spent. EXHIBITIONS AND THE COLLECTION:THE MUSEUM PRESENTS AN AMBITIOUS SLATE OF LARGE- AND SMALL-SCALE PERMANENT AND CHANGING EXHIBITIONS AND VIDEO AND ART INSTALLATIONS. THE MUSEUM'S CORE EXHIBITION, BEHIND THE SCREEN, IMMERSES VISITORS IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS OF MAKING MOVING IMAGES. IT FEATURES OVER 1,400 ARTIFACTS, FROM NINETEENTH-CENTURY OPTICAL TOYS TO VIDEO GAMES, AS WELL AS AN ARRAY OF INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCES, AUDIOVISUAL MATERIAL, AND ARTWORKS. THE JIM HENSON EXHIBITION EXPLORES THE GROUNDBREAKING VISION AND TRANSFORMATIVE CULTURAL IMPACT OF THE BELOVED AMERICAN ARTIST, FEATURING A BROAD RANGE OF OBJECTS AND MATERIALS INCLUDING PUPPETS, STORYBOARDS AND CHARACTER SKETCHES, AND MOVING-IMAGE MEDIA DOCUMENTING HIS EXPERIMENTAL FILM PROJECTS. CHANGING EXHIBITIONS DURING FISCAL YEAR 2025 INCLUDED MISSION IMPOSSIBLE-STORY AND SPECTACLE, WHICH FOCUSED ON THE ARTISTIC COMMITMENT AND TECHNICAL INGENUITY BEHIND THE REMARKABLE STUNT WORK THAT ARE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE POPULAR FILM FRANCHISE, AND RECORDING THE RIDE: THE RISE OF STREET-STYLE SKATE VIDEOS, WHICH FEATURED VIDEOS AND ARTIFACTS FROM SKATE CULTURE'S FORMATIVE YEARS. THE MUSEUM MAINTAINS THE NATION'S LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE COLLECTION OF ARTIFACTS RELATING TO THE ART, HISTORY, AND TECHNOLOGY OF THE MOVING IMAGE. WITH APPROXIMATELY 130,000 ARTIFACTS, THE COLLECTION, WHICH INCLUDES COSTUMES, LICENSED MERCHANDISE, TECHNICAL APPARATUS, MOVIE THEATER FURNISHINGS, AND VIDEO AND COMPUTER GAMES, SPANS FROM THE SILENT FILM ERA TO TODAY'S WORLD OF DIGITAL MEDIA CREATION.
- $2.0 million spent. SCREENINGS, EVENTS, AND ONLINE PROJECTS:EACH YEAR THE MUSEUM SCREENS MORE THAN 500 FILMS, PRESENTING A PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE MOVING IMAGE, WITH LIVE MUSIC FOR SILENT FILMS, RESTORED PRINTS FROM THE WORLD'S LEADING ARCHIVES, AND NEW FILMS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL CIRCUIT, THE MUSEUM'S SCREENING PROGRAM PROVIDES A STATE-OF-THE-ART, IMMERSIVE VIEWING EXPERIENCE FOR VISITORS. ANNUAL PROGRAMS THAT CONTINUED IN FISCAL YEAR 2025 INCLUDED THE 14TH ANNUAL EDITION OF FIRST LOOK, WHICH INTRODUCED AUDIENCES TO WORKS FROM AROUND THE WORLD, ENCOMPASSING FEATURE AND SHORT FILMS, FICTION AND NONFICTION, AND PERFORMANCES AND EXPERIMENTS; AND SEE IT BIG, THE MUSEUM'S REGULAR SHOWCASE OF FILMS THAT ARE MEANT TO BE SEEN ON THE BIG SCREEN, WITH PROGRAMS DEVOTED TO 70MM FILMS AND HOLIDAY FILMS. WIDE-RANGING PROGRAMS PRESENTED IN FISCAL YEAR 2025 INCLUDED PERSONAL BELONGINGS: FIRST- PERSON DOCUMENTARY IN THE 1990S AND THE MAGIC OF OZ: A FRANK OZ RETROSPECTIVE. AS PART OF OPEN WORLDS, A 15,500 SQUARE-FOOT, WI-FI-ENABLED, FREE COMMUNITY RESOURCE FOR VISITORS TO CONVENE, FIND CREATIVE INSPIRATION, AND EXPERIENCE NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES, THE MUSEUM PRESENTED FREE PROGRAMS FOCUSING ON THE CRAFT BEHIND MOVING IMAGES, PUPPETEERING WORKSHOPS, AND LIVE MUSIC AND DANCE CELEBRATIONS . THE MUSEUM'S WEBSITE, MOVINGIMAGE.ORG, IS A REPOSITORY OF MOVING IMAGE RELATED MATERIAL AND LORE AND FEATURES THE ONLINE JOURNALS REVERSE SHOT AND SLOAN SCIENCE & FILM, WHICH CONTINUE TO PUBLISH WORKS EXPLORING THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF THE MOVING IMAGE, AND THE INTERSECTION OF SCIENCE AND CINEMA, RESPECTIVELY.
- $1.4 million spent. EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTTHE MUSEUM PROVIDES EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES TO MORE THAN 70,000 STUDENTS EACH YEAR, AS WELL AS AN ARRAY OF DYNAMIC AND MULTI-LINGUAL TOURS, TALKS, WORKSHOPS, AND SCREENINGS FOR CHILDREN, TEENS, FAMILIES, ADULTS, AND SENIORS. IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS RANGE FROM FILM APPRECIATION AND WORLD-BUILDING WITH VIDEO GAMES TO SCIENCE-FICTION CINEMA, HANDS-ON MEDIA MAKING AND PUPPETRY FOR THE SCREEN. GAME LAB OFFERS A DYNAMIC SPACE FOR VISITORS OF ALL AGES TO EXPERIMENT WITH THE LATEST IN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY TO CREATE GAMES AND ANIMATIONS. MARVELS OF MEDIA, THE MUSEUM'S ANNUAL FESTIVAL RECOGNIZING THE OUTSTANDING MEDIA WORK OF AUTISTIC MEDIA-MAKERS THROUGH FILM SCREENINGS, AN EXHIBITION, AND IN-DEPTH PANEL DISCUSSIONS, AND ACCESS MORNINGS, A FREE PROGRAM PROVIDING FAMILIES ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE EXHIBITIONS AND PARTICIPATE IN SPECIALIZED WORKSHOPS, CONTINUED IN FISCAL YEAR 2025. DIGITAL GAME DESIGN INTENSIVES AND SUMMER MEDIA CAMPS, LED BY PROFESSIONAL FILMMAKERS AND GAME DESIGNERS, PROVIDED TEENS AND TWEENS WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO COLLABORATE IN THE CREATION OF DIGITAL MEDIA. THE ANNUAL TEEN COUNCIL PROGRAM CONTINUED TO SERVE AS A JOB DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR TEENS INTERESTED IN THE MEDIA ARTS, WITH COUNCIL MEMBERS CURATING AND PROGRAMMING PUBLIC EVENTS FOR YOUTH. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LOCAL HIGH SCHOOLS, MUSEUM EDUCATORS BRING THE LATEST IN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY TO STUDENTS IN THEIR CLASSROOMS.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since June 1985.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.