Stepping Stones Museum for Children Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
223199269
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Norwalk, CT, USA
Phone
2038990606
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Children's Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,055,331
Expenses
$9,890,547
Assets
$13,911,462
Liabilities
$1,075,002

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL SERRAO (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • FRANKLIN VAGNONE (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • FRANKLIN VAGNONE (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $184,840 total reported compensation
  • AMANDA CONNELL (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $155,413 total reported compensation
  • CRISTINA MATOS (VP, TEACHING & LEARNING): $145,559 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of stepping stones museum for children is to broaden and enrich the educational opportunities for children ages ten and under and enhance their understanding of the world. The museum seeks to create an environment that inspires life-long learning and supports parents, caregivers and educators as facilitators of children's explorations.

What it reported doing in 2025

Stepping stones is a premier multidimensional educational resource that provides exceptional and meaningful interactive learning experiences that enrich the lives of children and families. The museum's learning purpose is to spark children's curiosity, imagination and interests by engaging them in playful exploration of interactive learning experiences and shared moments of discovery with parents, caregivers, and educators, exciting and preparing them for an increasingly complex, changing and diverse future.

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 - 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: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.8%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 82.8%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -9.2%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.41; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.9%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.8% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.8% of revenue deployed · 82.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $185K · 19 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $489K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.