Galesburg Museums Inc Dba Discovery Depot

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
371356298
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Galesburg, IL, USA
Phone
3093448876
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Children's Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$798,594
Expenses
$654,912
Assets
$2,814,916
Liabilities
$406,950

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TRENT COX (President)
  • LANCE OETTING (Past President)

Highest reported compensation

  • DENISE GERSTENBERGER (Executive Dir.): $84,301 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Establish and maintain an interactive children's museum offering hands-on experiences that touch on the history, culture, arts, industry, education and traditions in the galesburg area.

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

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 filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 57.5%; rating input score 57
  • Program expense ratio: 70.4%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.64 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.3; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.9%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 57.5% of revenue deployed · 70.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $461K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $84K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.