Hill-stead Museum Board of Governors Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
061349061
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Farmington, CT, USA
Phone
8606774787
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Management & Technical Assistance

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$77,515
Expenses
$45,597
Assets
$1,286,067
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR ANNA M SWINBOURNE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & TRUST)
  • KRISTEN RENEHAN (PRESIDENT)
  • MARK SIDES (FIRST VICE PRESIDENT)
  • LAVELL M L THOMPSON (SECOND VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR ANNA M SWINBOURNE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & TRUST): $156,468 total reported compensation
  • DANIEL FLYNN (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE): $63,928 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To support and to provide advice and assistance to the trustees of the hill-stead museum, a national historic landmark and public charity which preserves, displays and interprets the 1901 colonial home, property, and fine art collections of theodate pope riddle, for the enrichment, enlightenment, and education of the general public.

What it reported doing in 2025

Expenses incurred to preserve the museum.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending 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: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 73
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.7%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 78.9%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.3%; rating input score 96; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 41.2%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 28.21; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.5%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.9% per year; rating input score 0; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 22.3% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.7% of revenue deployed · 78.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 26 of 27 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $36K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $156K · 27 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 13 of 13 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.