Reading Science Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
825063856
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-N 2018
Location
Reading, PA, USA
Phone
4848782112
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Science and Technology Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$724,740
Expenses
$574,770
Assets
$408,568
Liabilities
$1,272

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAMES CINELLI (PRESIDENT)
  • CORINNE WILSON (VICE PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • RICH STUMP (DIRECTOR)
  • AMY VAUGHAN (DIRECTOR)
  • JIM ARENTZ (DIRECTOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The reading science center exists to foster a love of science through exciting and experiential stem education for the greater reading community, especially our youth.

What it reported doing in 2025

Reading science center is a safe and vibrant learning environment for families and students from berks county and beyond. The center houses over 50 hands-on exhibits encouraging children to discover the wonders of science at their own pace. Additionally, field trips for schools are hosted providing science exploration through their interactive stations and exhibits as well an hour long science investigation led by educators on topics such as ph, electric circuits, states of matter, tools of a scientist, the science of glow, biome habitats, viscosity, etc. Students learn the vocabulary of science, and the scientific method. They each perform their own investigation and take home elements of the lesson for further inquiry. All lessons are aligned with Pennsylvania state science curriculum standards.in addition to their in-house programming, reading science center travels to reading school district classrooms for summer programming, as well as after school programming during the academic year. The center produces their own signature sisters in stem after school program for girls in grades four through six designed to encourage and empower these future innovators to pursue careers in stem.the center also hosts their own annual community science celebration called celebrate science day". This event brings together science activities from a variety of institutions and industry partners to show the applications of science in space, health, safety, geology, animals, plants, electricity and more. The event is offered free to the public.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 80% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 57.3%; rating input score 57
  • Program expense ratio: 71.8%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 20.7%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.71; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 26.4% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 24.6% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 57.3% of revenue deployed · 71.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $413K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 21 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 29/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.