Children's Adventure Center
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 060852809
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2018–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Sandy Hook, CT, USA
- Phone
- 2034263018
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,347,007
- Expenses
- $1,126,891
- Assets
- $419,452
- Liabilities
- $166,717
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
People named in this filing
- Marie Smith (Director)
- Jane Gadbut (Chair)
- Janice Butler (Treasurer)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Childrens Adventure Center is a dynamic learning community dedicated to providing a superior early-learning educational experience in a warm, friendly atmosphere. We pursue our goal of excellence with a caring community of young learners, dedicated staff and supportive parents.
What it reported doing in 2024
Provide child development and educational programs for pre-school children through age 8 in both daycare and after school activities
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 61% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 72
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 94
- Sustainability: 51
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 75.6%; rating input score 76
- Program expense ratio: 89.3%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: 16.3%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.37; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.4; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 75.6% of revenue deployed · 89.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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 — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.