Fairfield Historical Society Dba Fairfield Museum

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
060646622
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Fairfield, CT, USA
Phone
2032591598
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies & Historic Preservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,237,646
Expenses
$1,461,788
Assets
$13,789,426
Liabilities
$212,845

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STEVE SCHIFFMAN (PRESIDENT)
  • LAURA WILSON (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MICHAEL JEHLE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL JEHLE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $309,939 total reported compensation
  • MICHELLE CHENG (DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR PROGRAMS): $112,497 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 fairfield museum preserves and interprets the history of fairfield, ct and surrounding communities. Through changing exhibitions, school and public programs, the organization sparks dialogue, inspires meaningful collaborations, and deliberates the challenges of the future.

What it reported doing in 2024

Fairfield museum welcomes more than 37,000 visitors from throughout new england for a wide range of exhibitions, education programs, school visits and special events. More than 4,500 of those are students who visit on field trips from 65 schools throughout fairfield county to learn about their community and how they can be active and responsible citizens for the future. The museum offers more than 200 adult and family programs each year that provide important opportunities for individuals from different backgrounds with diverse opinions to come together to discuss critical issues facing our community and society at large.

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 the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.2%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 75.1%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: -18.1%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.43; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.9%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 94.2% of revenue deployed · 75.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $310K · 21 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.