Rockville Science Center Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 264437946
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2024–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023
- Location
- Rockville, MD, USA
- Phone
- 2403868111
- Rating
- 51
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Natural History, Natural Science Museums
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $204,680
- Expenses
- $200,221
- Assets
- $127,931
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Soo Lee-Cho (Vice President)
- Ulisses Santamaria (President)
People named in this filing
- Robert Ekman (Trustee)
- Soo Lee-Cho (Vice President)
- Melissa Scales (Secretary)
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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of the Rockville Science Center is to inspire a passion for lifelong exploration of science for our community. Through our programs and quest to bring a permanent interactive Science Center to Rockville and Montgomery County, we work to cultivate a sense of inquiry, discovery, wonder and understanding of the scientific foundations of everyday life.
What it reported doing in 2024
ENGINEERING TEAMS AND COMPETITIONS 5 Teams and about 50 students participated
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 57% for direct work, and 43% for grants.
The verdict
MIXED - 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 5
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 47
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 6.5%; rating input score 6
- Program expense ratio: 5.3%; rating input score 5
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 2.2%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.64; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 6.5% of revenue deployed · 5.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $11K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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: Mission deployment rate scored 6/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 5/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.