Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Sep 1977.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
79 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
45 people listed on the 990; $812K paid to officers and key staff.
Elizabeth Fitzgerald’s $305K as President is at the 97th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3924 $1–10M arts & culture nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 6 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth Fitzgerald | $304,823 | $289,869 | $270,952 | $249,984 | $289,453 | $179,692 |
| Cheryl Darr | $192,191 | $181,985 | $173,235 | $163,050 | $188,568 | $120,028 |
| Paula Burdge | $132,597 | $122,639 | $114,638 | $110,557 | — | — |
| Elizabeth Hartman | $114,002 | $109,077 | $105,888 | $103,284 | — | — |
| Vicki Peckron | $113,199 | $108,895 | — | — | — | — |
| Mason Glenn | $101,662 | — | — | — | — | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Offers children hands-on learning in a unique educational setting.
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Museum Experience
The magic house opened in 1979 to provide an educational facility for the children of the greater ST. Louis area. The museum is committed to hands-on learning and provides multi-curricular exhibits for children ages 1 to 11 years within a 55,000 square foot facility on three acres of outdoor space.
Public Programs
The magic house offers a wide variety of public programs. These include parent-child classes; art and cultural workshops and performances; summer camps; scout programs; birthday parties; and special events such as earth day, fall farm festival and big truck day.
School and Community Programs
The magic house offers facilitated field trip programs for students ages 3 to 14 that connect to classroom curriculum and meet state and national standards. These educational programs take place at both the magic house and our satellite location in the city of ST.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2024 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY24 | End FY24 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $2.5M | $4.3M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $10.8M | $11.3M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $19.8M | $19.6M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $35.1M | $36.9M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $5.5M | $5.1M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $29.6M | $31.8M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $520K | $79K | $351K | $90K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $4.1M | $3.5M | $377K | $205K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $173K | $154K | $12K | $8K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $172K | $144K | $19K | $10K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $360K | $282K | $55K | $23K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $10K | $10K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $98K | $38K | $60K | |
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $48K | $48K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $30K | $30K | ||
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $276K | $276K | ||
| Office expensesLn 13 | $427K | $293K | $33K | $101K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $148K | $148K | ||
| OccupancyLn 16 | $657K | $551K | $106K | |
| TravelLn 17 | $21K | $21K | ||
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $62K | $62K | ||
| InterestLn 20 | $137K | $104K | $33K | |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $1.4M | $1.3M | $106K | |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $178K | $165K | $13K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $542K | $542K | ||
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $9.4M | $7.4M | $1.5M | $436K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $9.6M | $9.1M | $555K | $32.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 Viewing | $10.8M | $9.4M | $1.5M | $31.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $11.6M | $9.0M | $2.6M | $29.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $6.8M | $8.1M | −$1.3M | $25.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $8.7M | $7.0M | $1.7M | $28.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $5.4M | $6.6M | −$1.1M | $26.2M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2024 990 (4 parts)
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $10,833,458 across 10 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $9,380,561 across 19 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $36,899,027 assets, 19 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $31,791,728 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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