Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
Legal name: Destroyer-escort Historical Museum
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 141836568
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Albany, NY, USA
- Phone
- 518-431-1943
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- History Museums
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $681,975
- Expenses
- $724,400
- Assets
- $3,510,019
- Liabilities
- $56,155
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
23 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MICHAEL C SWEZEY (PRESIDENT)
- PATRICK JORDAN (VICE PRESIDENT)
- TIMOTHY RIZZUTO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- TIMOTHY RIZZUTO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $112,853 total reported compensation
- JO ANN MULLIGAN (FINANCE OFFICER): $50,973 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum operates the USS SLATER (DE-766) to preserve naval heritage, educate the public about the role of destroyer escorts in World War II, and honor the memory of the veterans who served on them.
What it reported doing in 2024
Education-orienting visitors through lectures and audio visual presentations, and providing trained tour guides to interpret the ship for the visiting public. We write and print historical publications relating to destroyer escort history, and provide outreach programs to schools and civic groups. We also run a youthgroup overnight camping program.
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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 63
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 77
- Sustainability: 44
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 68.2%; rating input score 68
- Program expense ratio: 59.4%; rating input score 59
- Fundraising efficiency: $13.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th 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: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -6.2%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.85; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 22.6%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 68.2% of revenue deployed · 59.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $430K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $113K · 23 people listed
- Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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.
- 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 59/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 9 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 47/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.