Omaha Children's Museum

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
470594056
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Omaha, NE, USA
Phone
4023426164
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Children's Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,273,980
Expenses
$5,435,931
Assets
$7,616,945
Liabilities
$2,638,176

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DANA WASHINGTON (PRESIDENT/BOARD MEMBER)
  • ERIN FOLEY (VP OF FINANCE & OPS, INTERIM CEO)
  • FAWN TAYLOR (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (THRU 1.27.2025))

Highest reported compensation

  • FAWN TAYLOR (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (THRU 1.27.2025)): $148,283 total reported compensation
  • ERIN FOLEY (VP OF FINANCE & OPS, INTERIM CEO): $117,305 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Omaha children's museum is a not-for-profit organization that provides children and families with opportunities to discover how the world works, challenge themselves, and learn through play. The mission of the museum is to engage the imagination and create excitement about learning. (see on schedule o)

What it reported doing in 2025

Omaha children's museum is a not-for-profit organization that provides children and families opportunities to challenge themselves, discover how the world works and learn through play. The mission of the omaha children's museum is to engage the imagination and create excitement about learning. The museum's nearly 40,000 square feet of exhibits include the charlie campbell science and technology center, art smart center, tinker space, and the imagination playground - an area devoted to early childhood development. In addition to permanent exhibits, omaha children's museum offers educational programs in arts and science as well as traveling exhibitions, field trips, outreach programs, summer camps, and early childhood programs. The museum offers amenities such as a mission-related gift store, carousel, train, food service, picnic areas, and other family amenities.

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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 72.2%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th 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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.1%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.4; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.9%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.9% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77% of revenue deployed · 72.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $148K · 17 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $248K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.