Spruce Lake Retreat
Legal name: Franconia Mennonite Camp Associatio
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 231633499
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Canadensis, PA, USA
- Phone
- 800.822.7505
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Camps
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $11,787,737
- Expenses
- $11,013,819
- Assets
- $30,748,855
- Liabilities
- $5,850,481
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
14 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- STEPHANIE GEHMAN (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- STEPHANIE GEHMAN (CEO): $141,131 total reported compensation
- GORDON MARTIN (V. P. OF SA): $117,286 total reported compensation
- MARK SWARTLEY (CFO): $112,499 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Spruce Lake Ministries encourages persons from all walks of life to a deeper faith in God through Jesus Christ. In this peaceful setting in the heart of the Pocono Mountains in northeastern Pennsylvania, Spruce Lake provides Christian church, family and business groups with lodging, meeting spaces and meals for their next event or retreat. Spruce Lake also hosts youth camps, retreats for families and individuals, and outdoor education programs throughout the year. View Upcoming Events Frequently Asked Questions. Nearly 700 people came to the first open house in May 1963, and dedicated their new mountain sanctuary to the Lord for his work July 4, 1963. Families and children came to play and explore, to share a meal, to worship, and make music in their hearts to God. What started with just a few family retreats and only 2 weeks of camp that first summer has now expanded to serving over...
What it reported doing in 2025
The organization provides "christ-centered discoveries in an outdoor setting" in the lives and experiences of homeschool families, christian school students, teachers and parents (837 guests served). Expenses - 255,555 (including grants of 0), revenue - 160,305 the organization serves the local community by providing a day camp experience for the children of local families in a nurturing, natural setting - teaching about our creator, promoting healthy relationships, entertaining with clean, wholesome fun (2,086 guests served). Expenses - 651,895 (including grants of 20,848), revenue - 381,704 the organization has a "gap year program" expenses - 73,049 (including grants of 0), revenue - 26,462
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 85% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 80
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 56
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 84%; rating input score 84
- Program expense ratio: 89%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: $9.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- 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: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 6.6%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.79; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.4%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 84% of revenue deployed · 89% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $9.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $141K · 14 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $1.8M reported
- Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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.
- 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.