Chester Springs Library

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
232655912
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2014
Location
Chester Springs, PA, USA
Phone
6108279212
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Libraries

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$204,014
Expenses
$221,151
Assets
$563,124
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NANCY NIGGEL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • VIDHYA KRISHNAMOORTHY (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KIMBERLY MARINO (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • NANCY NIGGEL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $61,685 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To serve the area by providing access to materials, services and programs that promote education, lifelong learning, early literacy, leisure opportunities, individual growth, and connections that build a healthy and vibrant community

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, our programming for children, teens, families, and adults continued to be well attended and well loved. Our programs build community and align with our mission to promote education, learning, and recreation. We held 406 in-person programs attended by 8,967 people. The framework for our programs is established and consists of preschool story times three days per week, one play dough morning each week, and makinmusic for young children once a month. School age programs included bi-monthly stem classes for homeschool students. Our adult programs included a weekly crochet group and a monthly book discussion. Some of our stand-alone programs have now become staples that we repeat. People associate them with our library and look forward to them each year. Examples from 2024 included the annual bubble festival (highlighted in the 2025 pa summer reading showcase), the august fairy tale fair, the martin luther king, jr day intergenerational arts and crafts to decorate the library, thanksgiving center piece making weeklong drop in, and summer mosaics classes led by the library director.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 78% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 - 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.7%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 50.9%; rating input score 51
  • Fundraising efficiency: $40.99 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 5th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: -8.4%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.55; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 27.9%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -9.9% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.7% of revenue deployed · 50.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $113K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $62K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 51/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.