Cox Science Center and Aquarium

Legal name: Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
590915177
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
West Palm Beach, FL, US
Phone
(561) 832-1988
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Science and Technology Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$35,260,264
Expenses
$8,335,388
Assets
$114,415,557
Liabilities
$4,360,391

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

Leadership & pay

31 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Katherine Arrizza (President/CEO (until 4/2025))

Highest reported compensation

  • Katherine Arrizza (President/CEO (until 4/2025)): $245,289 total reported compensation
  • Carla Duhaney (COO): $167,236 total reported compensation
  • Jacob Rosner (VP Aquarium): $156,148 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 Cox Science Center and Aquarium’s mission is to inspire, engage, and educate our guests with an immersive journey that empowers them to embrace the promise of science.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Center served over 150,000 students through outreach education, in-house field trips and family programs and over 12,000 of these students are served through its award-winning STEM night programs in the schools. Our main target for educational grant programming is Palm Beach County School District Title 1 students from Kindergarten through 8th grade. The School District is the 10th largest in the nation and almost 45% of the students participating come from under-served communities through grant programming initiatives under a district-wide agreement. The partnership focuses on improvement in student achievement by granting students access to real-world STEM experiences.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 70% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 43
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 87
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 21.5%; rating input score 22
  • Program expense ratio: 66.2%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $55.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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; 66th 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: 76.4%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.73; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.3%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 19.7% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.1% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 21.5% of revenue deployed · 66.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 27 of 27 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $5.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $245K · 31 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $441K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 22/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.