Friends of Drake Well Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Friends of drake well provides support for all the events and educational programs presented by drake well museum and park and its associated site of historic pithole city. This support includes but is not limited to marketing and promoting all events and programs (advertising, flyers, social media, local news media), purchasing supplies and materials needed for the events and programs, securing nearly 15,000 in event sponsorships (fy 24-25), and assisting with the planning, development and implementation of each event and program. Drake well museum and park holds at least nine different events each year; these do not include fundraising events. Main events for the site include the wisdom & more lecture series held every thursday evening in march (86 attendees total in last fiscal year), discovery days children's summer camp on thursdays in july (67 campers total in last fiscal year), drake day celebration in august (426 attendees in last fiscal year), and the fall gas up in september (315 attendees in last fiscal year) which showcases various equipment from the early oilfields of Pennsylvania. Drake well museum had 18,098 visitors to the site in fy 2024-25; over 1,940 of these visitors were program and event attendees. Friends of drake well also provided marketing, supplies, sponsorships, and planning and development for events at historic pithole city including its cabin fever party in february, lantern tours in october, and its summer season operation which included educational historical demonstrations as well as tour guides. In addition to programs and events, friends of drake well also supports drake well museum's school tour program by providing funding to cover all admission costs for schools wishing to tour the site. Schools can also receive assistance with their transportation costs to get to and from the museum. The school tour program is funded through grants. Drake well museum had 2,599 school students from 44 different school groups visit the site in fy 2024-25. The schools were a mixture of public, private, homeschool, and charter institutions with grades represented from kindergarten to 12th grade. Friends of drake well also did marketing for the school tours in local news media and on social media platforms. Friends of drake well also assists drake well museum in its educational mission by publishing educational material for the public and its membership on the museum's website as well as its social media platforms. Friends of drake well publishes the award-winning oilfield journal every other year for the public and membership. The publication is a scholarly journal of 86-88 pages of articles focused on the early petroleum industry of Pennsylvania. The journal is made possible through grants secured by friends of drake well. Aside from programs, school tours, and publications, friends of drake well also assists the museum in the development and preservation of its exhibits and collections, furthering its educational mission. Friends of drake well secured both cash and in-kind donations to restore a 1978 nitro truck, used by the otto cupler torpedo company to revitalize old oil wells using nitroglycerin. The truck will be used to educate visitors and school children on this important aspect of the petroleum industry in Pennsylvania. Friends of drake well has also provided funding and development for new interpretive outdoor signage at historic pithole city, allowing visitors to better understand the layout and culture of a 19th century oil boomtown.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 83.4%; rating input score 83
• Fundraising efficiency: $6.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th 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: 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: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • 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: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -27.8%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.71; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 27th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -3.7% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings