Historic Arnolds Park Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
421231504
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Arnolds Park, IA, USA
Phone
7123322183
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,094,253
Expenses
$12,684,118
Assets
$50,356,949
Liabilities
$6,739,087

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jonathan Pausley (CEO)
  • MIKE BENNETT (President)
  • BRUCE TAMISIEA (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jonathan Pausley (CEO): $167,814 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

PROVIDE & PRESERVE FAMILY FUN IN THE IOWA GREAT LAKES AREA through the operation of its historical amusement park, excursion boat, and maritime museum.

What it reported doing in 2024

To collect and preserve maritime artifacts and collectibles generally associated with the Iowa great lakes area and to display the boating and maritime artifacts in our maritime museum that is free and open to the public to view on a year round basis. An official Iowa welcome center is operated within the museum facility and had over 41,000 visitors during the year.

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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 77.1%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -14.3%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.97; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.3%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.6% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 77.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $9.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $168K · 10 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 36/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.