Historic Lexington Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
546069177
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018
Location
Lexington, VA, USA
Phone
5404636832
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies & Historic Preservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$119,424
Expenses
$124,107
Assets
$1,310,995
Liabilities
$19,429

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LARRY WIESE (PRESIDENT)
  • JIM BUSCH (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DEE JOYCE-HAYES (PAST PRESIDENT)
  • MARGARET SAMDAHL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARGARET SAMDAHL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $22,238 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Historic lexington foundation (hlf) is a non-profit organization promoting the preservation of the rich architectural and related historic resources of rockbridge county, Virginia. Incorporated in 1966, at a time when many of lexington's buildings were threatened with demolition by neglect, hlf today supports and interprets the heritage and fabric of lexington, buena vista, and rockbridge county.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education of the public about historic preservation, acquisition, stabilization, restoration, renovation and reuse of historic properties

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 61% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 60
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.8%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 66.5%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 63.8%; rating input score 64; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.9%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.56; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.9%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.8% of revenue deployed · 66.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 19 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $83K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $22K · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • 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: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 31/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.