Exploratorium

Legal name: The Exploratorium

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
941696494
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4155284444
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$63,991,919
Expenses
$67,798,808
Assets
$292,041,625
Liabilities
$47,313,039

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

Leadership & pay

49 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • MARK BIERMAN (EXEC DIRECTOR): $770,994 total reported compensation
  • ROBERT SEMPER (CHIEF LEARNING OFFICER): $372,901 total reported compensation
  • LAURA ZANDER (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER (THRU 6/30/2025)): $360,531 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Exploratorium is a public learning laboratory exploring the world through science, art, and human perception.

What it reported doing in 2024

Educator engagement: we're at the forefront of science education. By making science visible, touchable, and accessible to a wide variety of people at the museum, online, and in the classroom, our explore-for-yourself way of learning and teaching influences science education worldwide. Our professional development programs provide educators with the skills, tools, and support they need to apply inquiry-based learning and teaching in their classes. We also design programs that make connections between the traditionally separate worlds of formal (school) and informal (museum) education and understanding.

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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.9%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 76.6%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.85 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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: -5.9%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.31; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 85.9% of revenue deployed · 76.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 33 of 33 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $51.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $771K · 49 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $5.4M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.