Bayfield Heritage Association Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391307338
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Bayfield, WI, USA
Phone
7157795958
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
History Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$239,720
Expenses
$188,997
Assets
$1,468,027
Liabilities
$1,583

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JERRY PHILLIPS (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • TRISHA MILLER (EXEC DIRECTO): $40,000 total reported compensation
  • ROSE MELIN (DIRECTOR): $12,218 total reported compensation
  • MARTI PETERSON (SECRETARY): $3,063 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To collect and preserve historical archival materials and related artifacts of the city of bayfield and the surrounding area in cooperation with other regional historical entities.

What it reported doing in 2025

To educate and serve the public through programs, publications, museum exhibits, and research services, and to foster an appreciation and understanding of the rich history of the bayfield region.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.6%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 83.8%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 21.2%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.77; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 29.2%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.6% of revenue deployed · 83.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $158K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $40K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.