Conner Prairie Museum Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 203402627
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Fishers, IN, USA
- Phone
- 3177766000
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- History Museums
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $20,890,350
- Expenses
- $18,378,676
- Assets
- $9,309,255
- Liabilities
- $3,136,682
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
44 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Norman O Burns II (President & CEO)
- Kyle L Wenger (Vice President and Chief Financial & Operating Officer)
- Andrew Bradford (Vice President and Chief Advancement Officer)
- Jennifer Neher Sommers (Associate Vice President, Development)
- Ryan Spencer (Vice President and Chief Programs Officer)
- Shelby Slowik (Associate Vice President, Human Resources)
Highest reported compensation
- Norman O Burns II (President & CEO): $338,094 total reported compensation
- Kyle L Wenger (Vice President and Chief Financial & Operating Officer): $243,221 total reported compensation
- Andrew Bradford (Vice President and Chief Advancement Officer): $224,951 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Conner Prairie is a unique historic place that inspires curiosity and fosters learning by providing engaging and individualized experiences for everyone.
What it reported doing in 2024
Historic museum experience: conner prairie is a unique historic place that inspires curiosity and fosters learning by providing engaging and individualized experiences for everyone. The museum strives to cultivate inquisitive, lifelong learners who possess the intellectual curiosity that will enable them to address the significant challenges facing our nation. Conner prairie's market is composed of a diverse mix of audiences, from urban school visitors to suburban, three-generational family groups. However, the market can be categorized into four broadly defined overlapping groups: 1) visitors from local and regional communities, 2) school groups from the state of Indiana, 3) tourists, and 4) a world-wide community of scholars and learners, who not only visit the museum in-person, but also gain understanding, knowledge and appreciation for the museum and its programs through the museum's website. (continued in schedule o)
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 82% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 75
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 98
- Sustainability: 47
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 76.6%; rating input score 77
- Program expense ratio: 82.7%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 97.4%; rating input score 97; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- 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: 12%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.51; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.34; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.3%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 76.6% of revenue deployed · 82.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 37 of 38 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $15.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $338K · 44 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $15.4M reported
- Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 16/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.