Children's Imaginarium Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
465049773
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Wausau, WI, USA
Phone
7159077801
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Children's Museums

Reported finances

Revenue
$951,612
Expenses
$860,750
Assets
$6,146,246
Liabilities
$1,566,244

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KATIE FELCH (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JULIE BOLLMANN (EXECUTIVE DI): $114,975 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To inspire discovery and imagination through hands-on exploration and educational experiences through play.

What it reported doing in 2025

The childrens imaginarium has 10,000 square feet dedicated to professionally designed, highly interactive hands-on exhibits. All exhibits and programming are rooted in stem and is a place for all children and families to spend time together; interacting, learning, and playing.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 71% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.7%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 83.4%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.5%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.14; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.4%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 63.3% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.2% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.7% of revenue deployed · 83.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $718K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $115K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 45/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.