Historical Society of Ocean Grove Nj Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237098995
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Ocean Grove, NJ, USA
Phone
7327741869
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$84,630
Expenses
$89,995
Assets
$589,656
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BOB WAITT (PAST PRESIDENT)
  • TARA KEMBLE-JONES (SECOND VICE PRESIDENT)
  • CINDY BELL (FIRST VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ART JAMES (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANNE FOX (REC. SECRETARY): $33,398 total reported compensation
  • TARA KEMBLE-JONES (SECOND VICE PRESIDENT): $3,022 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Preservation, maintenance and operation of historical museum and other historical sites in ocean grove nj

What it reported doing in 2025

Supports programs that provide for maintaining the integrity of the historical nature of ocean grove and the town's upkeep

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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 95
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 9
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 97%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: $19.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 19th 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: -6.3%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.55; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 40.5%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 97% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $87K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $33K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 19 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.