Creative Discovery Museum

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
621509462
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2020
Location
Chattanooga, TN, USA
Phone
4237852054
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Children's Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,393,387
Expenses
$6,441,999
Assets
$23,587,316
Liabilities
$3,466,577

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Tim Sears (President and CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Tim Sears (President and CEO): $194,067 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To inspire all children to explore, innovate, create, and play.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Museum is committed to being a welcome space for all children and families. The Museum hosts ten free nights per year serving 5,000 individuals. Last year more than 10,000 visitors took advantage of the Museums for All program which allows anyone with an EBT or food stamp card to purchase admission for 5. CDM also provides free admission and partner memberships for a range of non-profit organizations such as Big Brothers, Big Sisters and the Ronald McDonald House. CDM hosts a variety of inclusion programs such as six free sensory-friendly nights per year and the accessible Turquoise Trail Halloween event that engages over 50 volunteers and 200 guests of all abilities. The Museum hosted Club Discovery, an inclusive after-school program designed to provide a framework to explore the world in a safe environment for children with and without special needs, and a Friend Discovery Camp, a summer camp similar to Club Discovery for three weeks

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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.3%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 75.6%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.33 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: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • 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: 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: -19.4%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.66; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.3% of revenue deployed · 75.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $194K · 18 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $658K reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 52/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.