Edith Wharton Restoration Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042666846
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Lenox, MA, USA
Phone
4135515100
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,526,079
Expenses
$4,585,139
Assets
$22,452,561
Liabilities
$649,641

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SUSAN WISSLER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SUSAN WISSLER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $190,028 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Edith Wharton Restoration was incorporated in Massachusetts in 1978 to acquire The Mount, the National Historic Landmark estate designed by Edith Wharton, to protect it from commercial development. Today, The Mount is both a historic site and a center for culture inspired by the passions and achievements of its creator. It welcomes approximately 90,000 visitors from across the U.S. and abroad annually, who come to tour the estate, or attend one of the many readings, lectures, performances, or other programs that the Organization offers.

What it reported doing in 2025

Program costs include all salaries and related costs of those involved with providing tours and producing cultural programming. All costs related to the on-going maintenance of the property and related to the tour and program functions are considered program costs.

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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.5%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 84.9%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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: 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: 17%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.9; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.1%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -10.1% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.5% of revenue deployed · 84.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $190K · 21 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 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.
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 23/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.