Marbles Kids Museum

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
581647538
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Raleigh, NC, USA
Phone
9198344040
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,969,491
Expenses
$8,138,079
Assets
$33,879,221
Liabilities
$3,708,176

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

Leadership & pay

34 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JONATHAN FREDERICK (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • JONATHAN FREDERICK (CEO): $229,012 total reported compensation
  • BRITT THOMAS (CHIEF ACTIVATION OFFICER): $166,590 total reported compensation
  • HARDIN ENGELHARDT (CHIEF LEARNING OFFICER): $136,070 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See schedule omarbles sparks imagination, discovery and learning through play. 1. Ready set learn. Play builds intellectual, social and emotional skills for success in learning and in life. 2. Be healthy be active. Play promotes physical development and health. 3. Create innovate. Play encourages imagination, creativity and self-expression. 4. Explore experiment. Play leads to discovery and kindles curiosity. 5. Connect. Play teaches cooperation and collaboration, strengthens families and unites our community.

What it reported doing in 2024

In fy2024-2025 (fy25), marbles welcomed almost 544,000 visitors from all 50 states, 98 North Carolina counties and every corner of wake county to experience the power of play. Highlights include opening the marbles playway, a joyful community space that brings kids and families together to connect with nature and each other. This colorful urban oasis welcomes marbles guests and downtown visitors alike to an accessible, free-to-all destination in the heart of raleigh. Marbles in-house exhibits team designed, fabricated and installed two custom climbing structures a dragonfly and a bee to encourage kids to keep their bodies and imaginations active. Continued on schedule othe marbles playway earned two honors for its impact on downtown raleigh a 2025 dra imprint award and the sir walter raleigh award for community appearance. Marbles also successfully concluded our first-ever capital campaign, bigger play, brighter futures, with more than $9.1 million raised. With campaign funds, marbles will add new indoor and outdoor exhibits, enhance guest amenities and launch the marbles impact fund to support future sustainability. In support of our mission to spark imagination, discovery, and learning through play, marbles delivers powerful play experiences aligned with five core content initiatives: ready set learn, be healthy be active, create innovate, explore experiment, and connect. Content is delivered through innovative and interactive exhibits, daily educational programs, field trips, camps, special access programs and giant screen imax documentary movies. In fy25, marbles kids museum served almost 544,000 visitors across campus and welcomed over 50,100 field trip participants in preschool through 8th grade. Museum field trips offer open-ended museum exploration of our educational exhibits as well as hands-on specialty programs on topics like stem, financial literacy, nutrition, and weather. Marbles also offers curriculum-aligned educational field trips that integrate award-winning imax documentaries with hands-on learning labs for students in grades 5-8, bringing content to life through hands-on activities. Camp marbles engaged more than 3,000 kids in fun, interactive learning and play through creating, building, and experimenting. Marbles access and outreach programs provided over 50,900 free and reduced rate museum visits in fy25 for traditionally underserved populations, ensuring all children have access to marbles, despite financial or physical limitations. Marbles access programs include museum access for at-risk title i and preschool groups, extended hours for working families, free events for rising kindergarteners and their families and free events for children with special needs. In fy25 marbles won the association of science and technology centers' roy l shafer leading edge award for marbles' under the waves exhibit (september 2024).

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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 51
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 79
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 42.8%; rating input score 43
  • Program expense ratio: 65.7%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.69 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • 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; 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: 37.3%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.16; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.6% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.2% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 42.8% of revenue deployed · 65.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 30 of 30 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $229K · 34 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

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

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.