Friends of the Delaware Canal
Legal name: Friends of the Delaware Canal Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 222459396
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- New Hope, PA, USA
- Phone
- 2158622021
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Natural Resources Conservation and Protection
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $289,932
- Expenses
- $292,106
- Assets
- $689,781
- Liabilities
- $9,547
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- BRETT WEBBER (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- MICHAEL GINDER (EXECUTIVE DI): $85,176 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Friends of the Delaware Canal is an independent, non-profit organization working to restore, preserve and improve the Delaware Canal and its surroundings. “My dear, simply do it!” was the stern reply from this veteran of getting things done. She kicked into gear, marshaling her considerable resources to help us get started. She phoned Florence Schaffhausen, who wrote a column about our efforts in The Intelligencer, Doylestown’s newspaper, which ran photographer Rudy Millarg’s pictures as a photo essay, “Tinicum Woman Starts Canal Organization.” Taking my cue from Virginia, I organized friends, neighbors and family members. We painted those bridges, took boats into the Canal and pulled out debris, and repaired stone walls. That activity brought out more newspaper photographers and reporters, and we received lots of positive attention.
What it reported doing in 2025
Friends of the Delaware canal restore and improve the Delaware canal and state park. The organization also increases public awareness of the historical and recreational uses of the canal.
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.
The verdict
STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 68
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 40
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 75.8%; rating input score 76
- Program expense ratio: 68.8%; rating input score 69
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.86 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -0.7%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.36; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 29.2%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 75.8% of revenue deployed · 68.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $201K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $85K · 11 people listed
- Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2015 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 28/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.