Providence Children's Museum
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 050370944
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Providence, RI, USA
- Phone
- 4012735437
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Children's Museums
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,706,639
- Expenses
- $3,201,025
- Assets
- $2,923,173
- Liabilities
- $468,505
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
20 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LEIYINA TAVAREZ (VICE PRESIDENT)
- MARIANNE PURSLEY (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
- TED KRESSE (PRESIDENT)
- CAROLINE PAYSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- CAROLINE PAYSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $162,670 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of the providence children's museum is to inspire and celebrate learning through active play and exploration. The museum welcomes children and adults of all ages and backgrounds and from all communities although its focus is on serving the youth of southern new england, ages 1 through 11, and the adults who care for them.
What it reported doing in 2024
Museum learning occurs in the educational exhibits and programs created and presented by the museum. The museum creates and presents interactive exhibits designed to meet the developmental needs of children ages 1-11 and their caregivers.
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.
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 79
- Transparency & Controls: 67
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 26
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 92.5%; rating input score 93
- Program expense ratio: 77.7%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th 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: 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -18.3%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.91; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.1%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -0.8% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 92.5% of revenue deployed · 77.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $163K · 20 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 8/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 34/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 53/100.