Adventure Science Center - Nashville

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
620479192
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
6158625160
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,325,766
Expenses
$6,609,841
Assets
$25,982,565
Liabilities
$1,683,403

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

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LEAH MELBER (PRESIDENT AND CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • LEAH MELBER (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $321,767 total reported compensation
  • KAREN MUSACCHIO (CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER): $215,753 total reported compensation
  • JOEL ABRAMSON (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $153,016 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To open every mind to the wonders of science and technology, fostering a better understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

What it reported doing in 2024

Planetarium: with an ever-changing lineup of shows, the state-of-the-art sudekum planetarium presents exciting full dome education productions produced internally and leased from outside vendors. Planetarium show offerings included: nightwatch, arora, astronaut, dream to fly, explore, habitat earth, incoming!, mars: the ultimate voyage, nightwatch, one world, one sky: big bird's adventure, our place in space, polaris, rusty rocket's last blast, stars, the stellars mission: green, to worlds beyond, and wonderful sky. Laser show offerings included: david bowie, fright light, elo, laser holidays, taylor swift, pink floyd: the dark side of the moon, pop 'til you drop and prince.

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 the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.1%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 73.4%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.14 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.8%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.93; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.6%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70.1% of revenue deployed · 73.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $322K · 30 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $1M reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.