Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
236392266
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Phone
2159250167
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies & Historic Preservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,242,691
Expenses
$1,634,795
Assets
$3,746,075
Liabilities
$80,564

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL O'BRIEN (PRESIDENT)
  • JOHN DEFAZIO (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MICHAEL NORRIS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL NORRIS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $167,345 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The carpenters' company preserves and interprets carpenters' hall and our collections as unique historical assets that are tied to our nation's founding and the master builder tradition, and we convene the public to explore and inspire new ideas that highlight the importance and relevance of history and the built environment.

What it reported doing in 2025

We offer a robust variety of public programs that explore aspects of american history and issues related to the built environment. These include temporary exhibits, author talks, panel discussions, etc. We partner extensively with our fellow museums and historic sites and other industry partners to develop and promote these events. Other programs include: young people's continental congresshigh school students and teachers from around the country convene to explore the founding of our nation and the values and principles that fueled it and continue to define our country today.david mccullough prize for excellence in american public history named in honor of author david mccullough, the prize promotes and celebrates outstanding contributions to the field of american public history. Winners include lonnie bunch, secretary of the smithsonian; bryan stevenson from the equal justice initiative; christy coleman from the jamestown-yorktown foundation; and broadcaster and author mo rocca. The mccullough prize is also given to a history teacher within the philadelphia public school system. Master builders' institute mbi strengthens and diversifies the ace professions (architecture, construction and engineering) and builds career pathways for young people by providing a bridge between existing training programs and the working professionals and established firms that can provide real-world education and professional opportunities. Coordinated in partnership with the general building contractors association, mbi offers educational sessions led by successful professionals, access to scholarships (see below), mentoring, online resources and other related opportunities. Finally, the master builders' dialogues provide learning and professional development to current ace professionals. This biannual symposium delivers ceu-accredited content from expert, credible industry leaders to a wide array of professionals in the field. Over the past decade more than 1,200 professionals and students have participated.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 69% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 75.1%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 86.7%; rating input score 87; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -31.6%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.29; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.2%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.5% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 75.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $167K · 19 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 31 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.