Association of Children's Museums Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
954087882
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Arlington, VA, USA
Phone
7032243100
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Culture, and Humanities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,192,864
Expenses
$4,004,702
Assets
$3,315,823
Liabilities
$874,340

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

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOE HASTINGS (PAST PRESIDENT UNTIL APR 25)
  • JOSEPH COX (PRESIDENT)
  • ARTHUR AFFLECK (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • ARTHUR AFFLECK (PRESIDENT & CEO): $262,649 total reported compensation
  • KENI STURGEON (SR. DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC INITIATIVES): $134,105 total reported compensation
  • VICTORIA GARVIN (SR. DIRECTOR, PROFESSIONAL DEV): $130,884 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 association of children's museums will strengthen all children's museums through leadership, advocacy, professional development and service.

What it reported doing in 2024

Museums of all- a cooperative initiative with imls to ensure that every family, child, and individual has access to a high-quality museum experience by offering deeply discounted admission to low-income families and individuals.

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 84% 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.

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.1%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 84%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd 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: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 67.2%; rating input score 67; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 4.5%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.83; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.26; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.5%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.1% of revenue deployed · 84% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 7 filed program accomplishments · $3.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $263K · 29 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $789K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 31 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 25 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 51/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.