Children's Museum of the Mov Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
844022113
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Parkersburg, WV, USA
Phone
3048655372
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Children's Museums

Reported finances

Revenue
$969,485
Expenses
$2,002,835
Assets
$12,401,468
Liabilities
$193,189

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • WENDY SHRIVER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • WENDY SHRIVER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $82,457 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Creating an enrironment for children and the community that exercises curiosity, promotes exploration, and develops imagination through one of a kind hands-on experiences accessible to all.

What it reported doing in 2025

River city nature is one of the most popular themes in a children's museum, with many visitors engaged in the promise of a renewed connection to the natural world. Through imaginative play and science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics (steam) activities, the river gallery invites visitors to uncover the wild and wonderful nature of the Ohio river, its importance to the community and the many animals and plants who call this area home. - celebrate parkerburg as a river city and highlight the importance of the Ohio river in shaping the community. - connect visitors to nature through the local ecosystem by showcasing flora, fauna, and natural processes specific to the region. - invite visitors to discover and experiment with the power of water through open-ended and repeatable cause-and-effect experiences. - evoke a unique sense of place that engages multiple senses with environmental sounds, and immersive visuals and lighting. - provide amenities that support a positive experience with water play, such as smocks, dryers, and changing areas. Ball factory/early childhood the factory features a central climbing structure that provides children witha graduated series of safe yet challenging physical obstacles that encourage visitors of varying abilities. This structure is enriched with whimsical design elements and surrounded by kinetic ball activities that draw inspiration from factory processes and parkersburg's industrial history. Together, the climber and interspersed ball-driven contraptions create an open-ended and imaginative environment for children and families to play and grow together. - invite visitors and caregivers to play together. - encourage visitors to work together towards common goals by emphasizing communication, collaboration, and community. - empower visitors to build confidence in their own abilities and take risks through large-motor physical challenges. - provide opportunities for all levels of physical and developmental abilities. - draw inspiration from manufacturing processes and honor parkersburg's history by connecting visitors to the importance of industry in the region - design labin the design studio, visitors explore making and problem-solving witha variety of materials, creative platforms and testing apparatures. As a hands-on entry point for steam concepts as well as experimentation and design-thinking, the activities guide young visitors through creative and technical processes while providing authentic encounters with materials, tools, and technology. Experiences range from open-ended material exploration to challenges and projects visitors can return to, visit after visit, helping audiences of all abilities build practical skills, create tangible outcomes, and begin to see themsleves as designers, makers, thinkers, and doers. - nurture design thinking and engage visitors in experiences that elevate the design process rather than focus on "right" outcomes. - entice children and caregivers to make observations, as questions about the world and seek answers together. - celebrate self-expression and creativity by providing opprtunities to experiment witha variety of tools, materials, amd platforms that test and showcase visitor creations. - inspire visitors to dream big and imagine themselves as scientists, engineers and artists of the future. - serve all learners with activities designed to appeal to all genders.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 87.2%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.92 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: -106.6%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.19; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.1%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 50.1% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.2% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.1% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 87.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 15 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $82K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 52/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.