Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
231657857
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
Valley Forge, PA, USA
Phone
6109338825
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,027,484
Expenses
$3,078,126
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID J HARMER (CEO)
  • JASPER WYMAN (VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVANCEMENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID J HARMER (CEO): $351,826 total reported compensation
  • JASPER WYMAN (VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVANCEMENT): $153,148 total reported compensation
  • JASON RAIA (COO): $150,155 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To educate about american rights and responsibilities, honor acts of civic virtue, and challenge all to reject apathy and get involved.

What it reported doing in 2023

Civic education: freedoms foundation offers education programs targeting primary and secondary school students. In 2023, eighteen programs for 921 primary school students focused on the founding of the country and establishing deeply personal connections to history. Sixteen programs for 742 high school and college students focused on civic responsibility, american history, and the founding documents. In 2023, programs were held in person on our 72-acre campus and included nearly 37,000 hours of student instruction in civic education.(continued on schedule o)freedoms foundation also offers education programs for teachers. In 2023, we welcomed 238 teachers to our in-person graduate programs, including 5 seminars and 1 traveling workshop, which provide history and civic content by exposing teachers to extraordinary scholars and thinkers in programs on the constitution, american history, character development, and american values. With teachers averaging 100 students in a single school year, this means more than 23,800 students were or will be impacted by freedoms foundation's efforts in the 2023-2024 school year.

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: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 2
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 74.5%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.74 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th 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: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -51.8%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.3%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.7% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 74.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $352K · 15 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $384K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2009 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D land buildings reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.