French Colonial America

What it reported doing in 2024

Our organization offers historic house tours, exhibits and public programs that illuastrate and teach about the history of French Colonial America and French "Creole" culture, particularly in Upper Louisiana, as it is represented through the story of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri in the late 18th to early 19th centuries. Our programs introduce audiences of diverse backgrounds and age levels to the distinctive French vertical timber architecture, imperial Spanish rule from the 1760s to 1800, daily life in the colonial era, and the development of a unique Creole culture in this region, which grew from the interaction of the colonists of French descent with Native Americans, Africans, and other groups. In 2024, our museum campus, The Centre for French Colonial Life, served a total of 13,164 visitors, which was 4,651 less than the previous year. The decrease was to a great extent due to the site no longer hosting the community's Pecan festival in November. This large festival had been turned over to the downtown merchants' group because we had reduced the size of our staff and could no longer be responsible for hosting the event. While this change did reduce our overall attendance numbers, it actually allowed us to focus more effectively on our core mission of historic preservation and education: in addition to concentrating on planning for future exhibits and making progress with the renovation of another historic house that will open in 2026, we were able to develop a new "living history" program at one of our historic houses, which provided unique learning experiences for 4,244 members of the public. in addition to a modern exhibit facility, our museum campus includes four historic buildings dating from the late 18th to mid-nineteenth centuries. Our staff in 2024 consisted of 2 full-time and 16 part-time employees, serving administrative, education, curatorial, and building maintenance functions.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 61.6%; rating input score 62
• Program expense ratio: 77.9%; rating input score 78
• Fundraising efficiency: $18.11 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 56; 56th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
  • 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: Fail
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 32.1%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.79; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 21.2%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -0% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -33.1% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings