DeKoven Center
Legal name: DeKoven Center Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 390806356
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2013–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Racine, WI, United States
- Phone
- 262-633-6401
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Christianity
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,646,629
- Expenses
- $1,327,489
- Assets
- $4,520,731
- Liabilities
- $927,064
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
14 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Fr Geoff Ward (President)
- Sophie Clay (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- LYNN BIESE-CARROLL (Executive Dir.): $113,673 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Rooted in its deep historic connection to the Episcopal Church, the DeKoven Center’s object is to provide space within our historical facility for peaceful living, education, spiritual growth, and joyous celebration, as well as charitable purposes which support the public good. DeKoven gained fame as preacher and writer and is commemorated in the Episcopal Church on March 22nd. He died in 1879, but Racine College continued in one form or another. 1889 saw a closure of the collegiate department with the grammar school remaining. Time saw the educational institution became a preparatory school, then a military school as well. But the changes in education combined with the forces of the Great Depression forced the end of all activity in 1933. The Community of St. Mary - Western Province first used the Racine College property for as a summer girls camp, and then was able to buy the...
What it reported doing in 2025
Set along lake Michigan's bluffs in racine, the dekoven center's 11-acre campus is a unique and versatile setting that offers nationally-recognized architectural treasures, gorgeous gardens, serene wooded areas and other distinctive spaces, ideal for everything from reflection to celebration. Originally built as the racine college in the early 1850s, the center's quadrangle of american gothic buildings features a full-service retreat and conference center, where people of all faiths and interests come to renew mind, body and spirit. For weddings and other gatherings, the center also offers two reception halls with lakefront views, as well as the beautifully-appointed st. John's chapel and picturesque outdoor locales for ceremonies.
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: 56
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 73
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 40%; rating input score 40
- Program expense ratio: 84%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: $17.49 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 49.8%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.41; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.6%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.2% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 40% of revenue deployed · 84% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $114K · 14 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $1.1M reported
- Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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: Mission deployment rate scored 40/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.