Historical Society of the Cocalico Valley

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237002514
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Ephrata, PA, USA
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies & Historic Preservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$167,931
Expenses
$151,805
Assets
$1,957,499
Liabilities
$14,730

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANGELA STEWART (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • JOANNE L BENDER (RECORDING SE)
  • ELAINE H BOWMAN (TRUSTEE)
  • BRIAN CHELTON (TRUSTEE)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Maintain a historical library and a museum housing a collection of artifacts which are indigenous to the area.

What it reported doing in 2025

Operation of historical library and museum, the purpose of which is to discover, gather, and preserve historical material and data relative to the heritage of the cocalico valley located in northeastern lancaster county, Pennsylvania.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 60% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 76% for direct work, and 24% for member benefits.

The verdict

STRONG - 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 some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.7%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 86.6%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $75.24 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 9.6%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.89; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.7% of revenue deployed · 86.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $131K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.