Hawaii Science and Technology Museum

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810769543
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2021
Official website data refreshed
Jul 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2021, Form 990-EZ 2018, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Hilo, HI, USA
Phone
808-731-4476
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$288,167
Expenses
$301,789
Assets
$122,961
Liabilities
$28,949

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Christian Wong (Executive Director)
  • Pascale Pinner (President)
  • Heather Dansdill (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Christian Wong (Executive Director): $23,350 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide solid STEAM education to every child, cultivating the next generation of innovators for the future prosperity of the community and nation.

What it reported doing in 2021

Other program services include the After School Programs, Educator Support, Hawaii District Science and Engineering Fairs (HDSE), Research and Development, and other Special Events/Programs. These programs have delivered tutoring services, hands-on trade skills programs, STEM education and hands-on application, interventions and public service programs aimed at alleviating the mortality and morbidity of COVID 19 in the community, engaged in research and development to support COVID interventions, and also to develop a STEM workforce pipeline in our community. The organization worked closely with Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory in the delivery of Project Poke, a technical program designed to bring CubeSat technology to the classroom by training teachers in their design and application. Total population served by these programs inclusive of COVID interventions exceeding 10,000 people.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 91
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.6%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 89.4%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $88.75 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 83; 83rd 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.7%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.41; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.7%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 41.5% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 29.9% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 15 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 93.6% of revenue deployed · 89.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $270K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $23K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.