North Carolina Museum of Life & Science Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
560938434
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Durham, NC, USA
Phone
9192205429
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural History, Natural Science Museums

Reported finances

Revenue
$16,110,794
Expenses
$15,297,824
Assets
$26,278,749
Liabilities
$2,918,018

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

Leadership & pay

33 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CARRIE M HEINONEN (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • CARRIE M HEINONEN (PRESIDENT/CEO): $234,777 total reported compensation
  • ROY A GRIFFITHS (VP FOR EXHIBITS): $159,596 total reported compensation
  • LISA M RUTH (VP OF PEOPLE AND CULTURE): $149,160 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To create a place of lifelong learning where people, from young child to senior citizen, embrace science as a way of knowing about themselves, their community, and their world.

What it reported doing in 2024

The museum of life and science has served the community by providing engaging stem learning experiences and extracurricular programming since 1946. The museum welcomed nearly 650,000 visitors this year from the greater triangle region and beyond. The museum's 84-acre nature park and over 300 indoor and outdoor exhibitions enable children and their families to engage meaningfully with science, technology, engineering and math, preparing them to use stem learning as a way of understanding the issues they will face throughout their lives. Our mission is to spark curiosity and respect for nature and science in support of a community connected to science and invested in playful learning as a way of understanding and enriching ourselves and our world.

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 98% 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: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 91
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 79%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.3 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.2%; rating input score 96; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.72; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.1%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77% of revenue deployed · 79% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 26 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $12.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $235K · 33 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.4M reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 23 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 15 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.