The Children's Complex Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
270275036
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2022485810
Rating
53
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Children's Museums

Reported finances

Revenue
$87,532
Expenses
$121,095
Assets
$633,891
Liabilities
$164,747

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JANE LIPTON CAFRITZ (PRESIDENT)
  • NAZIR AHMAD (VICE-PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • JANE LIPTON CAFRITZ (PRESIDENT)
  • NAZIR AHMAD (VICE-PRESIDENT)
  • JEFF PULFORD (SECRETARY, 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

At explore! We spark the curiosity and creativity of children and inspire wonder about the world. A 501 c 3 nonprofit organization, explore! Is dedcicated to serving children birth through age 12 and their families in dc, va and md. Explore! Does this with the following activities: explore! With portrait gallery is a family friendly, spanish-english exhibition that explores portraiture and identity through hands-on activities and interactive experiences. It was created in collaboration with children's museum of pittsburgh and the smithsonian's national portrait gallery in Washington dc.planning for this project began in summer 2015. It is expected that approximately 500,000 individuals will visit the exhibition - located on the first floor of the national portrait gallery - when it opens to the public in january 2016.mission mobile students in grade 4-6 go on simulated missions together in our retrofitted school bus.

What it reported doing in 2025

The next big step for creating a dc children's museum, explore! With the national portrait gallery brings a dedicated children's exhibit to downtown. Created in collaboration with the children's museum of pittsburgh. In explore! With the portrait gallery, kids can experiment with portraiture in an age-appropriate way to answer questions such as "what is a portrait?" "how do i see myself? And "how do others see me?". Young visitors will be able to trace each other's silhouettes, strike a pose for a projected video art piece, and experiment with expression and emotion by building faces out of illustrated blocks.explore! With the portrait gallery is intended for children ages 18 months to 8 years old accompanied by an adult. The exhibition will be located on the first floor of the museum. Activity text will be presented in english and spanish.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 99% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

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: 9
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 10.8%; rating input score 11
  • Program expense ratio: 7.8%; rating input score 8
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • 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: -38.3%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.23; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.26; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.3% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 10.8% of revenue deployed · 7.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $9K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 17 of 17 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • 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 11/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.