General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131624013
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2128401840
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Chambers of Commerce & Business Leagues

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,659,945
Expenses
$1,842,320
Assets
$37,717,824
Liabilities
$341,690

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FRANK GIBBONS (PRESIDENT)
  • BRIAN MCAULIFFE (VICE-PRESIDENT)
  • VICTORIA A DENGEL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • VICTORIA A DENGEL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $509,247 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 society's principal purpose is to operate a tuition-free school and library in order to provide information and instruction to the New York building and construction trades. The society disseminates literary and scientific knowledge through lectures and other means ofintellectual improvement and maintains a cultural and educational resource center for those in manual, technical, craft and creative occupations.the society also provides operating space for similar nonprofit organizations whose goals are to preserve and promote the arts, culture, and history of tradesmen. In addition, the society preserves and maintains its landmarked building, which is listed on the national register of historic places and provides the venue for its educational and cultural programs and activities.

What it reported doing in 2025

The general society labor, literature, landmark and artisan lecture series -twelve lectures were held during 2025 with public programs on a range of topics related to the art of craftsmanship, architecture, historic preservation, literature, labor and urban history. This continues a tradition of public lectures that started at the society in 1837.the general society library and the john m mossman lock collection -the general society library is a reference and subscription circulating library with approximately 300 members. The library has approximately 110,000 books and is open to students, members, researchers and the public. The mossman lock collection, which is open to the public, comprises over 400 locks, keys, tools, and other artifacts, dating from 4000 b.c. To the early 20th century.

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. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 77
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.5%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 76.1%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 30.7%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 20.47; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 27.6%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.6% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.5% of revenue deployed · 76.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $509K · 16 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $782K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 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 — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.