Connecticut Explored Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 455404888
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2011
- Location
- New Britain, CT, USA
- Phone
- 8608322805
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Single Organization Support
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $248,333
- Expenses
- $344,478
- Assets
- $145,553
- Liabilities
- $72,629
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Kendall Wiggin (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Kathy Hermes (Publisher+ExDir): $77,000 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 educate the general public about the history and cultural heritage of the State of Connecticut and the role the State and its citizens have played as part of the American experience.
What it reported doing in 2024
Connecticut Explored, Inc.Form 990-EZ, FYE 8/31/2025Part III, Program Service AccomplishmentsExplanation of program activities and accomplishmentsProgram Accomplishments FY 2024-2025 Four issues of Connecticut Explored, circulation 4800 per issue Volume 23, Number 1: Winter 2024-25: theme of history of food. Articles included Cezar Chavezs visit to Connecticut during the grape boycott; the Fairfield Museum and History Centers curated exhibit on favorite ethnic foods in Fairfield; a photo essay of art at Cos Cob that focused on food, and what Native people drank in the early colonial period. Volume 23, Number 2: Spring 2025: theme of literacy that included articles about educators such as Dr. Henry Barnard and Dr. Benjamin Foster, Jr; Harriet Beecher Stowe, literary activism, and writers on slavery. Volume 23, Number 3: Summer 2025: theme of celebrations. The lead article celebrated the historical contributions of Dr. Lorenzo Greene of Ansonia; Puerto Rican festivals; the 300th anniversary of the Congregational Church in Cheshire.Volume 23, Number 4: Fall 2025: theme of environmental history. Articles included a photo essay about plastic pollution by a Connecticut photographer; shad fishing on the CT River; and land preservation and land trusts. Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history, had 117,424 unique downloads in total. The staff created new social media pages for the podcast and published 24 semi-monthly episodes on topics including: Where I Live: Connecticut, a social studies book, e-book, and website for third and fourth graders, published in Fall 2017 and in use by more than 20,000 students. Venture Smiths Colonial Connecticut, a social studies book, e-book, and website for grades 5 8, published in September 2019. Additional education resources for K-12 provided via ctexplored.org/teach and CTHistoryforKids.org.Connecticut Explored receives the benefit of substantial contributed services in producing the quarterly magazine, which are not reflected in the functional expenses reported in Form 990, Part IX.Many of the articles in the magazine are written and photographs reprinted with no compensation or minimal honoraria or rights fees, including the state historian who provides a quarterly column without compensation.
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 - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 74
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 74
- Sustainability: 13
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 91.5%; rating input score 92
- Program expense ratio: 65.3%; rating input score 65
- Fundraising efficiency: $1.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 7; 7th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -38.7%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.42; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.5; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 22.4%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 91.5% of revenue deployed · 65.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $225K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $77K · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 7/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.