Chestnut Housing Corporation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
273292060
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Lancaster, PA, USA
Phone
7176697372
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Housing Development, Construction, Management

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,052,585
Expenses
$594,788
Assets
$6,845,813
Liabilities
$1,638,505

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SUE WATERFIELD (PRESIDENT)
  • CHAD MARTIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHAD MARTIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $113,543 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Chestnut housing provides affordable rental housing to people experiencing homelessness because a home is the foundation of a healthy and fulfilling life. We connect people and communities of faith with tangible ways to create more affordable homes in lancaster.

What it reported doing in 2025

Chestnut housing provides affordable rental housing to people experiencing homelessness because a home is the foundation of a healthy and fulfilling life. We connect people and communities of faith with tangible ways to create more affordable homes in lancaster. Over 50 apartments and homes are in operation and another 25-30 are in various stages of planning, development, and construction.

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 - 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: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 77
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 19%; rating input score 19
  • Program expense ratio: 95.5%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: $242.9 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 93; 93rd 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: 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: 80.5%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.51; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.1%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 26.8% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 37.2% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 32.6% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 19% of revenue deployed · 95.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $568K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $114K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 19/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.