World Science Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
432095418
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2123481400
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
General Science

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,028,935
Expenses
$3,846,295
Assets
$21,339,436
Liabilities
$3,346,002

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TRACY DAY (CEO/SECRETARY)
  • JUDITH COX (PRESIDENT/TREASURER)
  • GILLIAN SMALL (WSU PRESIDENT/DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • TRACY DAY (CEO/SECRETARY): $236,583 total reported compensation
  • GILLIAN SMALL (WSU PRESIDENT/DIRECTOR): $225,398 total reported compensation
  • DEREK BREUER (SENIOR MOTION GRAPHICS VFX): $171,449 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 world science festival is a multimedia organization producing original content straddling science, the arts, journalism and education. Founded in 2008, wsf is viewed by many as the premier platform bringing the most transformative ideas at the forefront of discovery to mainstream audiences. With formats spanning innovative works of theatre, film, dance and music, immersive live and virtual experiences, as well as riveting discussions and debates, wsf is lauded globally for its groundbreaking live and digital content featuring world renowned scientists, artists and intellectuals, shifting science to the cultural center. Based in New York city, wsf is distinctive in its commitment to the highest of editorial standards and production excellence, providing worldwide audiences an exciting and impactful view of the near and far future.

What it reported doing in 2024

The foundation sends newsletters to its community of 162,030 subscribers to keep them informed of our digital programming schedule and live events. In 2024-2025, the website was visited by over 142,000 users, generating 322,100 sessions. In 2024, the foundation's youtube channels received 18.6 million views, generating over 534 million minutes of watch time. This brought the foundation's cumulative youtube views to 236.8 million, with over 5.9 billion minutes of total watch time, while millions more watched on meta's facebook and instagram, as well as other social media channels. (continued on schedule o)our youtube subscriber list grew by 108k, reaching 1.37 million at the end of 2024. By october 2025, wsf's youtube views totaled a cumulative 241.3 million views, generating over 6.1 bn minutes of total watch time. The channel also added 79,356 new subscribers during the 2024-2025 period reaching 1.37 million subscribers.through a vigorous program of social media outreach and regular communications to our followers, the festival grew its social media audience to 486,068 followers across platforms, including facebook, instagram, and other social media outlets. The foundation also relies on large numbers of volunteers during the festival and throughout the year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 94% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most filed governance safeguards are in place. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 45
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 73
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 32.4%; rating input score 32
  • Program expense ratio: 66.9%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 62.5%; rating input score 62; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 52.1%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.55; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 30.8%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.7% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 32.4% of revenue deployed · 66.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 8 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $237K · 12 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $202K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 48/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.