Celebrate Children Foundation
Legal name: Celebrate Children Foundation Incorporated
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 391946398
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Madison, WI, US
- Phone
- 608.266.1281
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Child Abuse, Prevention
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $284,498
- Expenses
- $166,158
- Assets
- $4,219,251
- Liabilities
- $2,695
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- REBECCA K MURRAY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- REBECCA K MURRAY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $135,495 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 Celebrate Children Foundation works in partnership with the Wisconsin Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board to spread evidence-informed prevention programs and services to communities across the state, while engaging in research to develop innovative approaches. Through resource development, the Foundation expands upon efforts to prevent child maltreatment before it occurs by providing support for prevention programs and maximizing donor contributions to advance practices that build strong children, families, and communities.
What it reported doing in 2024
The organization created a permanent endowment to ensure that investments made from the license plate sales will continue to be used to strengthen families throughout the state. During the year, the celebrate children foundation continued offering the fiscal sponsorship program to provide support to other organizations that share the same vision of strengthening families and preventing child abuse and neglect. The organization provided the prevention board with a $48,000 grant. In addition, the organization maintained its celebrate children license plate promotion comprised of partnerships statewide aimed at increasing revenue through promotion, sales, and renewals. The foundation offers program support to the child abuse and neglect prevention board in parent education, abusive head trauma prevention, and protective factors public awareness.in addition, the organization maintained its celebrate children license plate promotion comprised of partnerships statewide aimed at increasing revenue through promotion, sales, and renewals. The foundation offers program support to the child abuse and neglect prevention board in parent education, abusive head trauma prevention, and protective factors public awareness. The celebrate children foundation has offered two funding opportunities to enhance the work of local agencies strengthening families. The current grants focus on strengthening Wisconsin families through books and concrete supports.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Investment-supported. 70% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 98% of its reported program spending out as grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 73
- Transparency & Controls: 77
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 79
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 81.5%; rating input score 81
- Program expense ratio: 63%; rating input score 63
- Fundraising efficiency: $22.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 47%; rating input score 47; 41st 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 41.6%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 25.39; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 19.5%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -5.7% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -6.8% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 81.5% of revenue deployed · 63% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $105K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $135K · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: 2 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.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 47/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.