Moco Kidsco Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 454070908
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2012
- Location
- Bethesda, MD, USA
- Phone
- 3018975437
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Children's Museums
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $6,446,548
- Expenses
- $7,061,940
- Assets
- $10,692,417
- Liabilities
- $10,045,184
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CARA LESSER (FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- CARA LESSER (FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $186,640 total reported compensation
- JACQUELINE EYL (CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER): $151,634 total reported compensation
- AMY KURZ (CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER): $151,582 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Kid museum is our region's pioneering experiential museum and educational makerspace. We foster the "mind of a maker" in kids and youth, empowering the next generation with the skills to invent the future.
What it reported doing in 2024
In its eleventh year of operations, and its fourth at the flagship location at bethesda metro center, kid museum is open six days a week, serving thousands of children, families, and educators each year with a range of innovative programs. Its programs are built around hands-on, transformative learning experiences that build skills in coding, engineering design, and invention, and prepare kids to take on life's challenges with creativity, curiosity, and compassion.1) out of school time programskid museum provides youth with the skills and expanded mindset to become innovators of the future through engaging, hands-on programming from week-long summer camps and daily camps, to multi-week after-school classes and middle school maker nights. In addition, the museum provides vibrant weekend experiences designed to engage the whole family. In fy25, kid museum continued its in-person weekend programming, serving visitors through open explore time, birthday parties, workshops, and community celebrations.2) school programskid museum offers rigorous, curriculum based programs, with a series of experiences that combine technical skills (eg. Coding, electronics, engineering design) with 21st century learning including critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration. The annual invent the future challenge brings these learning experiences to thousands of area middle school students. The museum also provides rigorous, standards-aligned curricular programs for elementary students, reaching thousands of students including those from title i and high-poverty schools through the kid inventors program. In addition, kid museum reaches thousands of students through single visit maker discovery field trips, exploring hands-on technical and building skills, as well as deep dive workshops and open build experiences in which students pursue their own project builds. Kid museum also continued its partnerships with independent schools and nonprofit organizations to broaden the access and reach of its programs to students and teachers.3) teen programskid museum's teen volunteer program trains high school students to guide visitors through hands-on explorations. These trained students then serve as activity facilitators during afterschool programs, family weekend programs, and at camps. In fy25, kid museum also continued its intensive teen innovators program that allowed teens to delve into stem, maker, and leadership activities, as well as strengthen their tech and maker skills. All cohorts of the teen program explore college and career opportunities in stem and non-stem fields.4) educator programskid museum's professional development provides educators with the skills, resources, and inspiration needed to successfully integrate stem-based maker education into everyday classrooms. In fy25, kid museum continued its model for supporting schools in systemic integration of maker learning in the classroom. Teachers delivered a student curriculum, participated in cohort-wide training workshops, and partnered with kid museum staff for individualized coaching.5) community engagementin fy25, kid museum further refined its community engagement function, performing outreach to local and regional communities at little to no cost to the participants. Kid also collaborated with other community organizations to continue to broaden its reach and deepen partnerships in the region. Students and families that are traditionally underrepresented in stem participated in programs within their schools and communities as well as at kid museum during the week and weekends. Kid museum also built out its research and evaluation function to further refine its impact in the communities served by these programs.
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 - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 71
- Transparency & Controls: 84
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 25
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 79.2%; rating input score 79
- Program expense ratio: 72.1%; rating input score 72
- Fundraising efficiency: $7.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th 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: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- 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: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -9.5%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.51; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.94; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 13.3%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 23.1% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 22.2% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 28.9% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 79.2% of revenue deployed · 72.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $187K · 17 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $103K reported
- Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 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.
- 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.