Polly Hill Arboretum Inc
Overview
Mission
The arboretum is a plant science organization centered upon education, horticulture, plant exploration and conservation.
What it reported doing in 2024
Research and study of plants and other aspects of gardening and horticulture particularly with reference to rare plants grown in the arboretum. Inviting authorities in the field for consultation and guidance and maintaining documentation of the living plants.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The nonprofit carried out 100% of its reported program work directly.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 133873765
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2020
- Headquarters
- West Tisbury, MA, USA
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Botanical Gardens, Arboreta and Botanical Organizations
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and revenue has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 72
- Transparency & Controls: 95
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 49
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 88.1%; rating input score 88
- Program expense ratio: 66.7%; rating input score 67
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
- Public monitoring controls: Limited
- Public policy transparency: Limited
- Public financial transparency: Limited
- Impact reporting controls: Limited
- Public relationship transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Public governance controls: Limited
- Zakat policy transparency: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -7.2%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Operating reserve ratio: 19.06; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 16.4%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.9% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 88.1% of revenue deployed · 66.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $294K · 13 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 10 annual filings from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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.