Denver Museum of Nature & Science

Legal name: Colorado Museum of Natural History

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
840518447
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Denver, CO, USA
Phone
303-370-6000
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural History, Natural Science Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$57,234,971
Expenses
$62,154,492
Assets
$27,667,970
Liabilities
$6,817,557

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

37 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • George Sparks (President & CEO)
  • Edward Scholz (Executive Vice President, Finance & Business Opera)
  • Nancy Walsh (Executive Vice President, Experiences & Partnershi)
  • Christina Fritts (Senior Vice President, Development)
  • John Demboski (Senior Vice President, Science)
  • Eric Boen (Vice President, Technology)

Highest reported compensation

  • George Sparks (President & CEO): $498,170 total reported compensation
  • Edward Scholz (Executive Vice President, Finance & Business Opera): $347,145 total reported compensation
  • Nancy Walsh (Executive Vice President, Experiences & Partnershi): $305,668 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Institute for Science & Policy is a catalyst for thoughtful dialogue, working toward solutions on society’s greatest challenges with scientific thinking, empathy, and inclusivity.

What it reported doing in 2024

Science Division: In 2024, the Science Division, comprising over 60 staff, managed and provided access to the Museum's vast collection of 4.3 million objects and specimens. Museum scientists made significant, world-class discoveries through their work in the field, laboratory, and with existing collections, expanding knowledge of the Earth, its inhabitants, and beyond. Beyond their contributions to peer-reviewed articles, books, book chapters, and popular articles, the staff actively delivered scientific outreach. This included courses, events, collection tours, lectures, and field trips, which saw engagement with 36,700 members of the public. The Division's commitment to education was also evident in their supervision of interns and mentorship of undergraduate and graduate students, as well as hosting high school students. A crucial asset to the Science Division was its robust volunteer program, with 321 volunteers dedicating over 62,600 hours to support its mission.

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 99% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.8%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 75.6%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.26 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: 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: -8.6%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.45; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.3%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.8% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 92.8% of revenue deployed · 75.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 27 of 27 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $47M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $498K · 37 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $6.9M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 16/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.