The Leonardo

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
481268355
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023, Form 990-T 2023
Location
Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Phone
8015329800
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,650,691
Expenses
$3,970,715
Assets
$1,279,982
Liabilities
$3,678,902

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Alexandra Hesse (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Alexandra Hesse (Executive Director): $150,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Leonardos mission is to fuse science, technology and art in experiences that inspire innovation and creativity in people of all ages and backgrounds. We do this through engaging and interactive exhibits, school

What it reported doing in 2023

Community Events - The Leonardo works with corporate partners and community leaders to infuse their individual events with hands-on creative and innovative activities. The educational backdrop of the museum provides a unique venue to augment traditional corporate parties and retreats with fun and educational team-building exercises. The Leonardo also provides the community with unique events that cater to life-long learning. Specific programs include the science and art of food as the focus of our dining programs, building new skills through our Create What You Crave programs, and fun and educational activities for celebrations ranging from birthdays to anniversaries.

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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.1%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 79.2%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -8.8%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.32; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 2.87; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.5% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -8.9% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.1% of revenue deployed · 79.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $150K · 10 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2012 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.