Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary LLC

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
823782233
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Phone
5132316438
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Cemeteries

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$264,124
Expenses
$204,216
Assets
$802,515
Liabilities
$30,730

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Donelle Dreese (President)
  • Donna Buckley (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • William Gupton (Cemetery Director): $37,291 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Heritage Acres Memorial Sanctuary is a dedicated natural burial ground. Our commitment to creating a nature preserve where people may be laid to rest naturally calls us to compassion both for the earth, and for our fellow human beings.

What it reported doing in 2025

The most visible change to Heritage Acres in 2025 was the completion of a large, lovely pavilion, centrally located on our property overlooking the burial meadow, where families may gather for memorial services. Speaking of the burial meadow, we opened two new sections and are now nearing 150 total burials. This year we also planted dozens of new trees, continuing our reforestation project and nearing our arboretum goal of 200 different identified species on the premises. Both staffing and educational offerings continue to grow as well.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 77% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 52
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 63
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 45.2%; rating input score 45
  • Program expense ratio: 58.5%; rating input score 58
  • Fundraising efficiency: $40.08 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 70; 70th 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 22.7%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.93; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 39.3% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 45.2% of revenue deployed · 58.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $119K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $37K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 45/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.