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Animals : Zoos and Aquariums

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Inspiring conservation of the oceans

four stars

95.80

886 Cannery Row Monterey, CA 93940
tel: (800) 840-4880   Web Site
EIN: 94-2487469

Board Leadership
Steve Neal
Chairman of the Board

CEO
Julie Packard
Executive Director

  Score
(out of 100) 		Rating
Overall Score & Rating 95.80 four stars
  Financial 94.88 four stars
  Accountability & Transparency 97.00 four stars
This rating was published 06/01/2019 and includes data from FY2017, the most recent 990 received at that time.
Why isn't this based on more recent data?

Opened in 1984, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's mission is to inspire conservation of the oceans. We know that bringing people face-to-face with living marine animals is a powerful way to move them to care about the oceans and ocean life. From the beginning, we planned our permanent exhibits as a walk through Monterey Bay's beautiful natural communities. In 1996, we almost doubled our exhibit space with the opening of the Outer Bay Wing, devoted to the open ocean and deep sea. The main feature is the Outer Bay Waters exhibit, the one-million-gallon tank containing tuna, sharks and sea turtles. The aquarium has an active research program. We have groups working on sea otter conservation and tuna conservation biology. About 1.8 million people visit us each year.

Opened in 1984, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's mission is to inspire conservation of the oceans. We know that bringing people face-to-face with living marine animals is a powerful way to move them to care about the oceans and ocean life. From the beginning, we planned our permanent exhibits as a walk through Monterey Bay's beautiful natural communities. In 1996, we almost doubled our exhibit space with the opening of the Outer Bay Wing, devoted to the open ocean and deep sea. The main feature is the Outer Bay Waters exhibit, the one-million-gallon tank containing tuna, sharks and sea turtles. The aquarium has an active research program. We have groups working on sea otter conservation and tuna conservation biology. About 1.8 million people visit us each year.

Impact Information

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GuideStar is Charity Navigator's trusted partner in sharing information on how this organization seeks impact.  GuideStar has recognized this organization with a Platinum Seal of Transparency for voluntarily and publicly sharing information about how they measure their progress and results.  Learn More about Impact Information.
Reported Results
Total in 2018
Total number of paid admissions
1,625,150
Total number of free admissions
345,872
Number of free participants on field trips
108,864
This organization has earned a GuideStar's Platinum Seal of Transparency by voluntarily sharing the measures of progress and results they use to pursue their mission. Organizations earn Platinum Seals by selecting from a catalog of over 900 expert recognized metrics or by creating a new metric that best fits their work. This information is reported by the organization and displayed publicly on their GuideStar Nonprofit Profile. With over 1.6 million Nonprofit Profiles, 9 million annual visitors and over 200 data partners, GuideStar is the world's leading source of information about nonprofit organizations. A nonprofit itself, GuideStar is dedicated to providing better data for better decisions for a better world.
This impact information is current as of January 2020, when it was provided to us by GuideStar. At this time, Impact information published on this organization's page has no effect on its rating per our methodology.

Learn more about how we calculate the overall score and rating.

Financial

four stars

94.88

Accountability & Transparency

four stars

97.00

This rating was published 06/01/2019 and includes data from FY2017, the most recent 990 received at that time.
Why isn't this based on more recent data?
Overall Rating Chart
  Program Expenses
(Percent of the charity's total expenses spent on the programs
and services it delivers)		 83.2%
  Administrative Expenses 12.8%
  Fundraising Expenses 3.8%
  Fundraising Efficiency $0.06
  Working Capital Ratio (years) 4.97
  Program Expenses Growth 5.4%
  Liabilities to Assets 4.3%
All data for Financial Performance Metrics calculations was provided by Monterey Bay Aquarium on recent 990s filed with the IRS.
All data for Financial Performance Metrics calculations was provided by Monterey Bay Aquarium on recent 990s filed with the IRS.
Information Provided on the Form 990  
  Independent Voting Board Members
  No Material diversion of assets
  Audited financials prepared by independent accountant
  Does Not Provide Loan(s) to or Receive Loan(s) From related parties
  Documents Board Meeting Minutes
  Provided copy of Form 990 to organization's governing body in advance of filing
  Conflict of Interest Policy
  Whistleblower Policy
  Records Retention and Destruction Policy
  CEO listed with salary
  Process for determining CEO compensation
  Board Listed / Board Members Not Compensated
Is the following information easily accessible on the charity's website?  
  Donor Privacy Policy
  Board Members Listed
  Audited Financials
  Form 990
  Key staff listed
REVENUE  
Contributions  
   Contributions, Gifts & Grants $26,835,455
   Federated Campaigns $0
   Membership Dues $13,449,705
   Fundraising Events $0
   Related Organizations $0
   Government Grants $90,650
Total Contributions $40,375,810
   Program Service Revenue $49,947,497
Total Primary Revenue $90,323,307
   Other Revenue $11,058,430
TOTAL REVENUE $101,381,737
   
EXPENSES  
   Program Expenses $77,370,691
   Administrative Expenses $12,368,891
   Fundraising Expenses $3,124,105
TOTAL FUNCTIONAL EXPENSES $92,863,687
   
Payments to Affiliates $0
Excess (or Deficit) for the year $8,518,050
   
Net Assets $454,474,847

Charts

Compensation % of Expenses Paid to Title
$307,867 0.33% Julie Packard Executive Director

Mission

Opened in 1984, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's mission is to inspire conservation of the oceans. We know that bringing people face-to-face with living marine animals is a powerful way to move them to care about the oceans and ocean life. From the beginning, we planned our permanent exhibits as a walk through Monterey Bay's beautiful natural communities. In 1996, we almost doubled our exhibit space with the opening of the Outer Bay Wing, devoted to the open ocean and deep sea. The main feature is the Outer Bay Waters exhibit, the one-million-gallon tank containing tuna, sharks and sea turtles. The aquarium has an active research program. We have groups working on sea otter conservation and tuna conservation biology. About 1.8 million people visit us each year.

Highly Rated

Charity Name & State Overall Score Overall Rating
Monterey Bay Aquarium (CA) 95.80 four stars
Texas State Aquarium (TX) 93.24 four stars
Shedd Aquarium (IL) 94.32 four stars
Friends of Cabrillo Marine Aquarium (CA) 89.24 three stars
North Carolina Aquarium Society (NC) 88.29 three stars

Compare These Charities (Highly Rated)

Charity Contact Info

Monterey Bay Aquarium
886 Cannery Row
Monterey, CA 93940
tel: (800) 840-4880
fax: (831) 644-7554
EIN: 94-2487469

Visit Web Site

Board Leadership

Steve Neal
Chairman of the Board

CEO

Julie Packard
Executive Director

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