The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia

What it reported doing in 2024

Public education - the academy brings natural science to life through three floors of engaging permanent exhibits that include our historic dioramas and dinosaur hall, as well as the children's nature discovery center, outside in, that facilitates hands-on experiences with live animals. While visitation to the academy is still rebounding from the effects of the global covid-19 pandemic, we welcomed more than 126,000 visitors in the fiscal year 2025. This past summer, the number of group visits for summer camps continued to increase, and attendees of the academy's popular summer science camp rose significantly. The academy continues to offer exciting new experiences to the public. In 2025, the academy presented the first-ever co-created exhibition with drexel's westphal college. The exhibition featured stunning and provocative garments from drexel's robert and penny fox historic costume collection alongside specimens from the academy of natural sciences and works by contemporary changemakers. Together, the exhibition boldly explored how materials, production processes, and our own patterns of clothing consumption impact the world around us. In our spotlight gallery, we presented three new exhibitions highlighting the role of community science in advancing our understanding of the natural world, including heirloom plants, neighborhood naturalists, and living within the watershed, which helped catalyze the opening of the watershed, a new climate resilience hub in germantown in partnership with mural arts philadelphia and the philadelphia water department. In our special exhibitions gallery, we presented ice dinosaurs, an exhibition based on groundbreaking discoveries surrounding dinosaurs that lived in extreme polar environments. Public programming, including the academy town square series, dinos after dark, and festivals such as the beloved bug fest and confluence film festival, now in its second year, animated the public experience. In fiscal year 2025, we also continued to collaborate with drexel faculty on the museum innovation fund, a micro-granting opportunity that inspires faculty and students to experiment with the academy as a space for new approaches to public engagement.the community learning division continues to create community-centered initiatives that mobilize environmental justice leaders and civically minded individuals. Partnering with communities across the city, the academy provides science-infused curriculum to schools and educators, supports professional development within a network of educators, and creates environmental justice programs for students. The department of community science works in partnership with drexel's environmental collaboratory to identify and deliver funded projects in which individuals and communities partner with scientists to answer and address real-world environmental questions. Drawing on the academy's unique attributes - including its scientists, collections, and relationship with drexel, the education, learning and development (eld) department creates programs and curricula in support of lifelong learning. Eld has been providing focused stem lessons for 2nd and 3rd grade students at the friends select school for more than 10 years. The academy's center for steam equity works in partnership with drexel (in particular, the school of education) to address social inequity through steam teaching and learning by conducting, catalyzing and supporting community-based research. Among these efforts, the nationally recognized and award-winning women in natural sciences (wins) program, the longest-running of its kind in the region, continues to deliver after-school and summer enrichment for young women, introducing hundreds of high school students to future careers in science. Our most recent addition to the program supports wins students as they navigate their years in higher education. Wins iii follows the students as they transition from high school to college, offering mentorship, skil

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 79.5%; rating input score 80
• Program expense ratio: 69.9%; rating input score 70
• Fundraising efficiency: $11.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 24th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Pass
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
• Grant itemization coverage: 99.3%; rating input score 99; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 88.5%; rating input score 88; 21st percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 7.7%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.63; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 11.6%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings