Friends of Valley Falls Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
061260706
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Vernon, CT, USA
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Single Organization Support

Reported finances

Revenue
$42,232
Expenses
$64,138
Assets
$779,827
Liabilities
$1,876

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Position Open (President)
  • Nancy Steffens (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Jeremy Geller (Director)
  • Ann Letendre (Director)
  • Bruce Dinnie (Director)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of the Friends of Valley Falls Inc. organization is to be the responsible owner of the Valley Falls Farm and to promote the betterment of the Valley Falls Park. The organization carries out this mission through careful stewardship of their lands and buildings conservation of their resources and through outreach to the community.

What it reported doing in 2024

The organization completed development of the Farm Heritage Center at the Valley Falls site and formally opened the Heritage Center to the public on June 10 2023. The Heritage Center continued to be open to the public during the summer of 2024 and a total of approximately 300 people attended the Heritage Center during the second year of operation. The Heritage Center presents the history of the late 19th and early 20th century farm life and farm implements. The purpose is to educate the public to farm life during that time period.

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 - 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 revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 95
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 96.3%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • 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: -51.9%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.16; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.2% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -38.8% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 96.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $62K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.