Colonial Pennsylvania Farmstead

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237249215
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2010
Location
Gradyville, PA, USA
Phone
6105661725
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies & Historic Preservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$391,032
Expenses
$358,577
Assets
$139,513
Liabilities
$18,454

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SARAH FARNSWORTH (President)
  • LISA BELL (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • Sarah Lerch (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Sarah Lerch (Executive Director): $60,000 total reported compensation
  • Jennifer Snow-Ashbrook (Director): $2,576 total reported compensation
  • SARAH FARNSWORTH (President): $1,688 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Colonial Pennsylvania Farmstead preserves and interprets an 18th-century working farm to educate the public about early American agriculture domestic life and rural craftsmanship. The organization cares for historic structures maintains heritage livestock and crops and conducts hands-on demonstrations of period farming practices. Through school programs public tours seasonal events and living-history activities the Farmstead offers immersive educational experiences promoting understanding of Pennsylvanias colonial-era rural heritage.

What it reported doing in 2025

Historic farm interpretation - The Colonial Pennsylvania Farmstead operated an 18th-century working farm offering hands-on educational experiences. Staff and trained interpreters showcased historic agricultural practices livestock care foodways and domestic crafts to visitors year-round. The Farmstead hosted school groups families and community members for guided tours living-history demonstrations and seasonal programs to enhance awareness of Pennsylvanias colonial-era rural heritage.

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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 73
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.7%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 88.6%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $56.65 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.3%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.39; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.9%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.8% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.7% of revenue deployed · 88.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $318K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 44 of 44 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.