Brandon Free Public Library
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 030181053
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Brandon, VT, USA
- Phone
- 8022478230
- Rating
- 66
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,129,640
- Expenses
- $346,953
- Assets
- $4,771,534
- Liabilities
- $35,873
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DAVID ROBERTS (PRESIDENT)
- GARY MEFFE (VICE PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- DAVID ROBERTS (PRESIDENT)
- GARY MEFFE (VICE PRESIDENT)
- BRUCE NESS (BOARD MEMBER)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Operates a Public Library for the benefit of the residents of Brandon VT and Surrounding Communities
What it reported doing in 2025
Operate a Public Library for the Residents of Brandon VT and Surrounding Communities
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 81% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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 voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 45
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 64
- Sustainability: 93
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 20.6%; rating input score 21
- Program expense ratio: 98.7%; rating input score 99
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 14th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 83.7%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.75; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 24.9% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 20.6% of revenue deployed · 98.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $342K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 23 of 26 current checks pass · 3 findings to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 21/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Fund balance restriction sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule G event net income did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.