Hortus Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
852626981
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Hartsdale, NY, USA
Phone
9144411863
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Roman Catholic
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,778,915
Expenses
$1,079,606
Assets
$1,476,448
Liabilities
$6,213

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALESSANDRO CROCCO (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • ALESSANDRO CROCCO (President): $240,000 total reported compensation
  • COLIN HOWELL (EMPLOYEE): $240,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Foundation seeks to promote the orthodox, Magisterial Catholic faith and tradition through formation activities, tools, and materials that edify; to evangelize through film, art, architecture, and archaeology; to deepen appreciation of Catholic history through religious pilgrimages to, and restoration and preservation of, churches, shrines, and other religious sites worldwide that have spiritual, historical, architectural, and/or artistic significance; to engage in projects that manifest principles of solidarity, charity to the poor, and Catholic Social Teaching; to support related activities of Catholic dioceses, religious orders, ministries, apostolates, and other religious entities with similar visions and goals; and to promote devotion to Saint Angelo DAcri.

What it reported doing in 2024

Hortus Foundation is a registered 501(c)3 US nonprofit that champions and stewards life-transforming Catholic initiatives through Faith, Truth, and Beauty according to the incomparably rich tradition of the Catholic Church. Hortus is Latin meaning garden and is often specifically associated with a garden that bears fruit. It is the root of English words today like horticulture, cohort, and court. Our logo is a tree in a garden deeply rooted to bear much fruit and to herald the Catholic Faith in the world today. We herald the Catholic Faith by projects and initiatives that will: a) Promote the Orthodox Magisterial tradition through formation activities, tools, and materials that edify.b) Invest in Catholic cultural projects that range from film, art, architecture, archeology, and history.c) Engage in projects of Catholic principles of Solidarity, Charity to the poor, and the Social Teachings of the Catholic Church.d)Select projects following the above criteria that command a wide-reaching impact and will bear much fruit in the world.e) Partner with other great organizations that share our organizational values and mission.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 total spending goes to programs and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 44
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 50.3%; rating input score 50
  • Program expense ratio: 82.2%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $40.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 39.3%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.37; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 44.5%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 150.2% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 57.1% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 62.8% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 50.3% of revenue deployed · 82.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $888K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $240K · 6 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.