Mississippi Children's Museum
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 640850010
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Jackson, MS, USA
- Phone
- 6019815469
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Children's Museums
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $6,060,971
- Expenses
- $6,488,929
- Assets
- $35,357,398
- Liabilities
- $4,168,180
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
23 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- SUSAN GARRARD (PRESIDENT/CE)
Highest reported compensation
- SUSAN GARRARD (PRESIDENT/CE): $153,464 total reported compensation
- SARAH SKELTON (CFO): $131,596 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We create unparalleled experiences to inspire excellence and a lifelong joy of learning.
What it reported doing in 2024
The Mississippi's children's museum (mcm) seeks to empower and inspire our state's children, regardless of their social, educational, or economic background. The mission of mcm is to create unparalleled experiences to inspire excellence and a lifelong joy of learning. The 40,000 square foot museum in the jackson location and 25,000 square foot museum in the meridian location are designed around five primary initiatives, with correlating exhibits, programs, and outreach efforts. These initiatives include literacy, science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (steam); health and nutrition; cultural arts and Mississippi heritage - the keys to helping children mature into healthy and productive adult learners.
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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 80
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 46
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 91.2%; rating input score 91
- Program expense ratio: 81.1%; rating input score 81
- Fundraising efficiency: $10.75 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: -7.1%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.45; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.4%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.9% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 91.2% of revenue deployed · 81.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $153K · 23 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 55/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.