Historical Society of Windham County Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 036006505
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2021
- Location
- Newfane, VT, USA
- Phone
- 8023654148
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Historical Societies & Historic Preservation
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $84,870
- Expenses
- $98,335
- Assets
- $708,928
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Richard Marek (President)
- David Gagnon (Vice President)
People named in this filing
- Roger Allbee (Director)
- Barb Barber (Director)
- Margaret Bills (Director)
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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of HSWC is to stimulate interest of present and future generations in the history of Windham County, Vermont, and its several townships, and to acquire a more intimate knowledge of the methods, customs, hardships, and triumphs of its present ancestry. HSWC currently achieves its mission through two museums, the new Windham County History Museum (in the 1825 Jail Building) officially opened May 31, 2025, and the West River Railroad Museum, as well as a Resource & Genealogy Center (in the former brick County Museum) which are all open to the public without charge, and where exhibits and resources share the history of Windham County, Vermont with people of all ages from near and far. The Society houses and maintains collections relating to Windham County and makes them available for exhibitions, educational programs, and events. It sells a limited number of mission-related items at its museums and on-line.
What it reported doing in 2024
The West River Railroad Museum: Located within steps of the new County History Museum, the restored Newfane Train Station of the now defunct West River Railroad is open free of admission on Saturdays and Sundays (1-4) from Memorial Day through mid-October. Opened 2017, the restored original Newfane Station contains the Station Agent's office, a freight room, and a passenger waiting room. There is also an operable hand cart on the nearby wide-gage tracks and a restored water tower, one of only two still remaining along the Railroad's 36-mile route between Brattleboro and South Londonderry, VT. The RR Museum includes a mini-museum store where mission-related items such as postcards, notecards, pictures, and publications focused on the West River Railroad are available for purchase. Profits from these sales, as well as from donations left by visitors, help support the museum's operations.
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: 97
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 18
- Sustainability: 51
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 96.7%; rating input score 97
- Fundraising efficiency: $60.08 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -15.9%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.21; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 30.9% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 21.7% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 96.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 12 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $95K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
- 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.
- High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 56/100.