Chapman Sanctuary and Visny Woods

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042210786
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-PF 2015
Location
Center Sandwich, NH, USA
Phone
6036519980
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$42,408
Expenses
$33,045
Assets
$1,010,614
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LOUISA BRYANT (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • LOUISA BRYANT (PRESIDENT)
  • ISABEL SUESS (TRUSTEE)
  • SHAW SMITH (TREASURER)

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

Nature preserve and wildlife sanctuary perserving flora and fauna habitat that is open free to the public for various low impact recreational uses and nature education.

What it reported doing in 2025

The chapman sanctaury and visny woods is a nature center and wildlife sanctuary on approximately 250 acres in central nh. The organization's property encompasses woodlands and meadows that is open to the publc for recreational use and includes low impact walking trails and wildlife habitat. The property includes self-guided nature trails that were developed in conjunction with the university of New Hampshire. The organization also provides bird and nature eductional programs as well as preserves the historic chapman house, pereninial gardens, and grounds. The organization continually manages and improves the sanctuary's wildlife habitats for the wide variety of flora and fauna the inhabot the area. The sanctuary is open free to the public during daylight hours, year-round, for hiking, bird watching, cross country skiing, and snowshoeing.

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

STRONG - 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.2%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 74.8%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $68.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 22.1%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 30.58; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4.7% per year; rating input score 0; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.9% per year; rating input score 0; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.2% of revenue deployed · 74.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $25K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.