Friends of the Paragon Carousel Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
043285979
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2023
Location
Hull, MA, USA
Phone
7819250472
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies & Historic Preservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$441,681
Expenses
$389,607
Assets
$754,652
Liabilities
$23,992

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARGE WEST (PRESIDENT)
  • JASON MCCANN (VICE PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • MARGE WEST (PRESIDENT)
  • JASON MCCANN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • SUSANNE RIDGE (TREASURER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of the friends of the paragon carousel is to preserve the carousel at its current location and restore it to its original beauty.

What it reported doing in 2025

Operation of historic paragon carousel & adjustment museum shop. The carousel has been operating along the shores of beautiful nantasket beach for more than 80 years. Built in 1928 by the philadelphia toboggan company, it boasts four rows of 66 intricately carved horses & two rare roman chariots. It is decorated with 35 original paintings, 36 cherubs & 18 goddesses who look down while a wurlitzer bank organ fills the air with music. One of fewer than 100 "grand" carousels remaining in the u.s. Today, the paragon carousel touches the heart, sparks the imaginations & ignites the creative spirits of all who visit it. The paragon carousel is the last remaining attraction from the beloved paragon park amusement park on nantasket beach that closed in 1985. The antique amusement is a lasting (continued on schedule o... ) reminder of the "golden age" of hull, ma, when the town was teeming with thousands of visitors each day in the summer for decades. The carousel now attracts upwards of 100,000 visitors each summer.

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

SUPPORTED - 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: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 81%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.85 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.8%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.94; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79% of revenue deployed · 81% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $316K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.