Children's Museum of Phoenix

What it reported doing in 2024

The children's museum of phoenix's mission is to engage the minds, muscles, and imaginations of children and the grown-ups who care about them. With a focus on early childhood education and development for children birth to ten years, the museum provides hands-on exhibits and programs that encourage physical, emotional, and cognitive development. To ensure that all children in our community can visit the museum, we aim to provide free or reduced admission access to more than 110,000 people each year through our every child program. This program gives low-income or at-risk children and families access to the museum's rich learning environment either for free or at a substantially reduced rate. During fy 24-25, 111,092 visitors came through our every child program an investment in our community valued at $1,528,722. This year, in partnership with the city of phoenix, rsp architects, and chasse construction, we began the design phase of our upcoming expansion of the museum which will see the museum grow into its full 80,000 square feet of space, plus an additional 10,000 square feet of new space designed for today's young explorers.in november 2024, the museum received a landmark $2.5 million grant from lilly endowment inc. - the largest in our history. This extraordinary gift will fuel a signature exhibit focused on character development and refresh beloved areas across the museum. This work is designed to foster character skills of kindness, curiosity, bravery, creativity, and respect in children, strengthening them for life.also in november, our annual gala, casino royale, delivered an unforgettable evening of sparkling dcor, a thrilling live auction, dinner under the stars, and a high-energy silent disco that kept guests dancing late into the night. The event welcomed 324 guests and raised $304,185 in support of our every child program, helping thousands of children and their families access joy, connection, and learning at the museum. In june 2025, we celebrated a milestone moment: welcoming our five millionth visitor! That's five million chances for children to imagine, build, climb, discover, giggle, and growoften side by side with their families, caregivers, and friends. This achievement belongs to our community and especially to our donors, whose generosity has made the museum a vibrant, joyful space where play has power and every child is valued. In our continuing commitment to idea (inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility), the museum was honored to feature special artists such as fiesta mexicana dancers and sampradaya dance of india to celebrate diverse cultures with our guests. In addition, we had the pleasure of displaying the artwork of local artists as we celebrated hispanic heritage month in september & october and native american heritage month in november. We also welcomed nine amazing individuals into our idea fellows program this year offering semester-long, paid fellowship opportunities to college and high school students, giving them valuable hands-on experience working alongside museum staff in our education, exhibits, marketing, and innovation & learning departments. All in all, the museum welcomed 360,583 visitors during fy 24-25.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 47.6%; rating input score 48
• Program expense ratio: 70.7%; rating input score 71
• Fundraising efficiency: $15.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited
• 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: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • 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: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 39.5%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.2; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 6.7%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings