The Museum of Language Arts Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 464894732
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2029313145
- Rating
- 88
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts, Culture, and Humanities N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $6,240,658
- Expenses
- $7,118,901
- Assets
- $55,019,102
- Liabilities
- $398,242
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
36 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ANN B FRIEDMAN (CHAIR AND CEO)
- NICHELLE A DEJESUS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- NICHELLE A DEJESUS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $299,318 total reported compensation
- ELLETT TOOMEY (SENIOR DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $222,351 total reported compensation
- TENESHA R VINES (DIRECTOR, FINANCE): $130,950 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Planet word is a museum that inspires and renews a love of words, language, and reading through unique, immersive learning experiences. It provides a space to explore words and language that is grounded in a solid understanding of language arts and science.
What it reported doing in 2024
On october 22, 2020, the museum officially opened its doors to the public. The museum serves more than 150,000 visitors annually on-site in the newly preserved and rehabilitated franklin school, a 50,000-square-foot, 5-story national historic landmark. The museum currently features 10 immersive, interactive exhibit galleries that engage visitors in experiencing words and language from a wide range of perspectives - from the science of how language skills develop early in life to how words are used creatively and persuasively in music, poetry, humor, advertising, oratory, and literature. In addition, the museum provides dynamic and robust ongoing arts, culture, and education programming in its auditorium and classroom spaces, as well as online, for children, adults, families, students, and teachers. Other features of the museum include a gift shop, office space for the administration of the museum, a restaurant operated by a third party, and an interactive game gallery that opened in march 2022 featuring word puzzles, mysteries, and riddles to solve throughout the room.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 75% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 91
- Transparency & Controls: 84
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 44
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 88.1%; rating input score 88
- Fundraising efficiency: $16.23 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- 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: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -14.1%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.73; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.7%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 31.6% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 27.6% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 88.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 32 of 32 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $299K · 36 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $1.1M reported
- Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 4 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.