Scienceworks Hands-on Museum

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
931309725
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Ashland, OR, USA
Phone
5414826767
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Science and Technology Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,445,223
Expenses
$1,241,394
Assets
$2,408,607
Liabilities
$110,862

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PIPER VON CHAMIER (President)
  • KENNY TAYLOR (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • ANDREW OWEN (BOARD MEMBER)
  • PETER JENSEN-HAXEL (BOARD MEMBER)
  • SHEILA FOSTER (BOARD MEMBER)

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

To inspire wonder among children and adults, and stimulate creative exploration through interactive science and the arts.

What it reported doing in 2024

To inspire wonder among children and adults, and stimulate creative exploration through interactive science and the arts. We offer a science center with hands-on exhibits, educational programs for student and teachers, and public programs that normally benefits thousands of people each year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 55
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 80
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 38.1%; rating input score 38
  • Program expense ratio: 73.5%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $63.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 7th 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: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 49.2%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.94; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 38.1% of revenue deployed · 73.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 10 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $913K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 38/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Independent members within voting members did not reconcile in the filed values.