Eli Whitney Museum
General Information
Contact Information
Nonprofit
Eli Whitney Museum
Address
915 Whitney Ave
Hamden, CT 06517
Phone
(203) 777-1833
Web Site
Web Site
Facebook
Facebook
Email
[email protected]
At A Glance
Year of Incorporation
1977
Organization's type of tax exempt status
Public Supported Charity
Organization received a competitive grant from the Yes
community foundation in the past five years
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Mission & Areas Served
Statements
Mission
The Eli Whitney Museum is an experimental, hands-on, learning workshop for students, teachers and families.
We collect, interpret and teach experiments that are the roots of design and invention.
Background
The Eli Whitney Museum was established in 1979 on the site where Whitney transformed American
manufacturing in 1798. Whitney’s workshop was a laboratory for invention. The Museum is an experimental
learning workshop. It collects and exhibits, not objects, but the ways in which objects are made, and the ways
through which objects educate. A central goal of the Museum's programs is to promote pluralism in learning. We
identify and support students who express themselves most eloquently, not with words, but with their hands. We
believe invention draws no lines between math, science, literacy, art, history, and geography. The Museum will
produce and teach 75,000 projects for children from Connecticut and beyond this year. The scope and scale of
these programs unrivaled even by much larger institutions.
Impact
Accomplishments 2013:
1. In an uncertain economy, we sustained our programming and found modest growth.
2. We made our accounts, program registration, and communication 80% paperless.
3. We have increased our in-school presence across the state - particularly in urban school systems - with
growing enrichment programs and weekend family programs.
Goals 2014
1. We will give our work a new voice in our Design Blog, with submissions from past and present apprentices
who keep our eye on fresh design and technology.
2. In our Apprentice Program we will test the efficacy of training with new measures, including leadership,
design, and skills workshops and benchmarks.
3. We will expand the depth and scope of our Resident Artisans project.
4. We will expand our catalog of cultural programs.
5. We will expand the role of our CNC Shopbot and continue to redesign projects to increase accessibility for
national markets.
Needs
The Museum's five most pressing needs this year are:
1. Support for Apprentice Training and Development
2. Support for Design and Development of new programs for Vacation and Summer Workshop
3. Sponsorships and In Kind Donations for this year's Leonardo Challenge
4. In kind donations of maps (of any kind) for this year's Leonardo Challenge
5. Support for Aeromodeling and Warhammer programs
Service Categories
Primary Organization Category
Arts,Culture & Humanities / Museums
Areas Served
State wide
Ansonia
Bethany
Branford
Cheshire
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Derby
East Haven
Guilford
Hamden
Lower Naugatuck Valley
Madison
Milford
New Haven
North Branford
North Haven
Orange
Oxford
Seymour
Shelton
Shoreline
Wallingford
West Haven
Woodbridge
Other
The Eli Whitney Museum serves over 65 towns and cities in Connecticut. Most children, students, and families
are from the Greater New Haven region.
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Programs
Programs
School Programs
Description
From September through May, the Eli Whitney Museum Workshop offers
unique on-site or in-school educational programs. The current catalog
contains more than 50 programs for elementary and middle-school
students. Alternatively, teachers can work with Museum staff to design a
program that meet the specific needs of their students. With the school
programs, the Museum sees students from 66 towns and cities all over
Connecticut. Teachers book Museum programs to meet curriculum
needs, and to offer experiential learning opportunities for students. The
programs offered touch a variety of subjects: from force and motion,
design and invention, and sound and light, to natural history, cultural
projects from around the world, Connecticut history, and social studies.
Most programs coincide with the Connecticut Curriculum Standards.
Budget
$0.00
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities, General/Other / Museum Education
Population Served
Children and Youth (0 - 19 years) / /
Short Term Success
Students will have increased knowledge of the unit they are studying in
school, which coincides with the content of the program they are involved
in at the Museum. Additionally, students work on vocabulary, motor skills,
creativity, and in some cases, working in teams.
Program Success Monitored By
Program Success is monitored by student and teacher satisfaction, and a
survey sent out to teachers at the end of every school year, that monitors
the impact the Museum's programs have on the students during the time
that they are here.
Summer Programs
Description
Each year, the Museum's educators, visiting artists, and apprentices
design roughly 60 new programs for a series of week-long summer
workshops for children ages 5-15. The programs focus on design,
invention, building, storytelling, art, architecture, history, and culture. Each
summer, the Museum has approximately 8,250 kid/days, with children
hailing from 71 towns and cities across Connecticut.
Budget
$0.00
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities, General/Other / Museum Education
Population Served
Children Only (5 - 14 years) / /
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Apprentice Program
Description
Roughly sixty five apprentices, age 13-18, receive stipends for work in
design, production, and teaching of the thousands of projects and
programs run by the Museum each year. Most apprentices begin at age
13, and work four years in the program, or log enough hours to be the
equivalent of 1 ½ years of high school. Typically, the apprentices work
about 200 hours during the school year on weekends, and up to 400
hours each summer during the Museum’s ten weeks of Summer
Programs. All of the apprentices are trained by the well-established
designers, artisans, and artists that teach or contribute to Museum
programming. The apprentices also try their hand at teaching; running
birthday parties and leading tables during the summer allow them to
interact with diverse groups of children ranging in age from 5 to 12 or
13. From designing to drilling and packing projects, the apprentices play
an essential role in the programs the Museum delivers.
Budget
$0.00
Category
Youth Development, General/Other / Youth Development, General/Other
Population Served
K-12 (5-19 years) / /
Vacation Programs
Description
During the school year, the Museum offers day-long programs to enrich
the hours of school holidays. Programs coincide with one-day holidays
including Columbus Day, Veterans' Day, and Presidents Day, as well as
week-long February and April Breaks that the majority of local school
systems take. Much like the Museum's Summer Programs, the Vacation
programs focus on a variety of topics, skills, and themes. Vacation
Programs are offered to children ages 6-12.
Budget
$0.00
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities, General/Other / Museum Education
Population Served
Children Only (5 - 14 years) / /
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Leadership & Staff
CEO/Executive Director
William Brown
Term Start
Sept 1984
Email
[email protected]
Experience
• Directs all aspects of the Museum and designs and teaches core workshops.
• Runs the apprentice program.
• Designer, Educator, Social Worker.
• Trained in child development at Columbia University.
Co-CEO
Sally Hill
Term Start
Sept 1984
Email
[email protected]
Experience
• Associate Director, Exhibit Designer, Graphic Designer.
• Director of EWM summer program.
• Trained in design at Yale.
Staff
Number of Full Time Staff
7
Number of Part Time Staff
85
Number of Volunteers
0
Number of Contract Staff
0
Staff Retention Rate
83%
Staff Demographics - Ethnicity
African American/Black
8
Asian American/Pacific Islander
5
Caucasian
73
Hispanic/Latino
6
Native American/American Indian
0
Other
00
Staff Demographics - Gender
Male
49
6
Female
43
Unspecified
0
Plans & Policies
Organization has a Fundraising Plan?
Under Development
Organization has a Strategic Plan?
Under Development
Management Succession Plan?
Under Development
Organization Policy and Procedures
Under Development
Nondiscrimination Policy
Yes
Whistleblower Policy
No
Document Destruction Policy
Yes
Senior Staff
Dana Clough
Title
Asst. Manager/Educator
Mike Dunn
Annalise Phillips
Wanda Faison
Kiran Zaman
Formal Evaluations
CEO Formal Evaluation
Yes
CEO/Executive Formal Evaluation Frequency
Annually
Senior Management Formal Evaluation
Yes
Senior Management Formal Evaluation Frequency
Annually
Non Management Formal Evaluation
Yes
Non Management Formal Evaluation Frequency
Annually
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Board & Governance
Board Chair
Meghan Knight
Company Affiliation
Knight Architecture
Term
Nov 2014 to Oct 2017
Board of Directors
Name
Affiliation
Sarah Baird
Diaper Bank
Mimsie Coleman
Town of Hamden Arts Commissioner
Kathy Cooke
Quinnipiac University
Eric Epstein
Epstein Design
Alex Esdaile
Ray Fair
Yale University
Stephen Latham
David Lewin
Normand Methot
Retired
David Meyers
Frank Mitchell
Museum Consultant
Zach Morowitz
CEO Performance Partners
Alan Plattus
Yale University
Anna Ramirez
Will Rosenblatt
Yale University
Mary Schwab Stone
Dan Velazquez
James Whitney
Whitney, Cooper, Cochran & Francois Attorneys at
Law
Kiran Zaman
Board Demographics - Ethnicity
African American/Black
2
Asian American/Pacific Islander
1
Caucasian
15
Hispanic/Latino
2
Native American/American Indian
0
Other
00
Board Demographics - Gender
8
Male
13
Female
7
Unspecified
0
Governance
Board Term Lengths
3
Board Term Limits
0
Board Meeting Attendance %
72%
Number of Full Board Meetings Annually
5
Written Board Selection Criteria
No
Written Conflict of Interest Policy
Yes
Percentage Making Monetary Contributions
91%
Percentage Making In-Kind Contributions
26%
Constituency Includes Client Representation
Yes
Standing Committees
Board Development / Board Orientation
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Financials
Financials
Fiscal Year Start
Sept 01 2014
Fiscal Year End
Aug 31 2015
Projected Revenue
$1,137,900.00
Projected Expenses
$1,142,900.00
Endowment Value
$0.00
Spending Policy
N/A
Percentage (if selected)
0%
Detailed Financials
Prior Three Years Total Revenue and Expense Totals Chart
Fiscal Year
2014
Total Revenue
$1,683,366
Total Expenses
$1,684,075
Prior Three Years Revenue Sources Chart
Fiscal Year
2014
Foundation and Corporation
$205,679
Contributions
Government Contributions
$460,481
Federal
-State
-Local
-Unspecified
$460,481
Individual Contributions
-Indirect Public Support
-Earned Revenue
$954,837
Investment Income, Net of Losses
$249
Membership Dues
$27,717
Special Events
-Revenue In-Kind
-Other
$34,403
Prior Three Years Expense Allocations Chart
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2013
$1,445,102
$1,488,722
2012
$1,756,849
$1,518,685
2013
$99,753
2012
$396,909
$339,443
---$339,443
--$948,818
$268
$24,733
--$32,087
$440,648
---$440,648
--$882,527
$5,267
---$31,498
Fiscal Year
Program Expense
Administration Expense
Fundraising Expense
Payments to Affiliates
Total Revenue/Total Expenses
Program Expense/Total Expenses
Fundraising Expense/Contributed
Revenue
2014
$1,626,391
$57,684
--1.00
97%
0%
2013
$1,426,442
$62,280
--0.97
96%
0%
2012
$1,449,003
$69,682
--1.16
95%
0%
Prior Three Years Assets and Liabilities Chart
Fiscal Year
2014
Total Assets
$2,417,554
Current Assets
$247,258
Long-Term Liabilities
-Current Liabilities
$5,791
Total Net Assets
$2,411,763
2013
$2,416,558
$229,508
-$4,086
$2,412,472
2012
$2,461,770
$211,610
$1,911
$3,768
$2,456,091
2013
---
2012
---
--
--
2014
42.70
2013
56.17
2012
56.16
2014
0%
2013
0%
2012
0%
Prior Three Years Top Three Funding Sources
Fiscal Year
2014
Top Funding Source & Dollar Amount
-Second Highest Funding Source & Dollar -Amount
Third Highest Funding Source & Dollar
-Amount
Solvency
Short Term Solvency
Fiscal Year
Current Ratio: Current Assets/Current
Liabilities
Long Term Solvency
Fiscal Year
Long-Term Liabilities/Total Assets
Capital Campaign
Currently in a Capital Campaign?
No
Goal
$0.00
Capital Campaign Anticipated in Next 5 Years?
No
Comments
Foundation Staff Comments
This profile, including the financial summaries prepared and submitted by the organization based on its own
independent and/or internal audit processes and regulatory submissions, has been read by the
Foundation. Financial information is inputted by Foundation staff directly from the organization’s IRS Form 990,
audited financial statements or other financial documents approved by the nonprofit’s board. The Foundation
has not audited the organization’s financial statements or tax filings, and makes no representations or
warranties thereon. The Community Foundation is continuing to receive information submitted by the
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organization and may periodically update the organization’s profile to reflect the most current financial and other
information available. The organization has completed the fields required by The Community Foundation and
updated their profile in the last year. To see if the organization has received a competitive grant from The
Community Foundation in the last five years, please go to the General Information Tab of the profile.
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Created 06.16.2017.
Copyright © 2017 The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
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