Child's Play

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
203584556
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
4254035558
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Patient Services - Entertainment, Recreation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,646,742
Expenses
$4,162,599
Assets
$15,787,926
Liabilities
$1,215,254

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELAINE CHASE (PRESIDENT)
  • TRAVIS ERIKSEN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • KIRSTEN CARLILE (SENIOR DIRECTOR OF PHILANT): $157,786 total reported compensation
  • TRAVIS ERIKSEN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $153,502 total reported compensation
  • ANGIE KELLEHER (DIRECTOR OF PHILANTHROPY): $117,738 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Child's play seeks to improve the lives of children and teens in pediatric hospitals and other child welfare facilities through the kindness and generosity of the gamer community and the power of play.

What it reported doing in 2025

In recent years, child's play has heavily focused on gaming and technology specialists. These positions inside children's hospitals have proven to enhance the patients experience while creating an environment that is inclusive around gaming. These technology specialists promote immersive technology such as augmented and virtual reality to help provide distraction during procedures. This can help kids get home sooner and heal quicker. Child's play has funded 53 of these positions to date through capacity building grants and continues to look for additional donor/sponsor support to grow this program. These grants allow the hospital to support this new position in 2 to 3 years.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 87% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 84% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 59
  • Accountability: 87
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.4%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 83.9%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 94.8%; rating input score 95; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 19th 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: -14.1%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.79; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.3%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.6% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.2% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.4% of revenue deployed · 83.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $158K · 10 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 39 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 212 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 110 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • 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.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.