I-park Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264463061
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
East Haddam, CT, USA
Phone
8608732468
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$627,483
Expenses
$426,579
Assets
$1,038,013
Liabilities
$200,680

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RALPH CRISPINO JR (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOANNE PARADIS (Treasurer): $45,846 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

I-Park nurtures artistic creativity and excellence, in the abstract and at the level of the individual artist. I-Park also has a specific interest in site-responsive art and makes its expansive grounds available to those working in this field. I-Park's core General Residency Program brings together a multi-disciplinary mix of artists developing promising ideas, and creating new works, in a quiet, retreat-like setting. I-Park prides itself on the high level of personalized attention given to the artists as they strive to realize their most ambitious artistic goals. Since 2001, I-Park has sponsored over 1,300 fully funded, 4-week residencies to artists from around the world. An I-Park residency is an unconditional gift of time, space and fellowship.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community Engagement at I-Park consists of hosting public events such as Open Studios, where the artists open their studios at the end of their residencies to expose hundreds of visitors to their work projects and creative process. On Open Trails Days, the public is given access to our expansive system of 24 walking trails. Along the way, visitors encounter live music and over 40 site-responsive art installations to say nothing of the forest, fields, ponds, cliffs and wild life. Other community events include Volunteers Days, the annual Friends & Supporters Appreciation Gathering and a Family Day, complete with childrens art activities.. During 2024, I-Park completed the final phase of upgrading the Common Area. This multi-purpose space, that can now accommodate seating for 75, is where we gather for music performances, film screenings and poetry readings. We installed new mobile library stacks that can be repositioned for various configurations depending on the event. This facility was funded in part by the State of Connecticuts Good to Great Grant. Their goal was to enhance the publics visitors experience: lighting, seating, accessibility and comfort. We have experienced an uptick in attendance since the facility came online in early 2025.

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 94% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 65
  • Sustainability: 68
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59.2%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 81.4%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $29.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 68; 68th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 32%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.43; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.7%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.8% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 59.2% of revenue deployed · 81.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $347K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $46K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 59/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.