Incarnation Center

Legal name: Incarnation Center Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
135657791
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Deep River, CT, United States
Phone
Tel: (860) 767-0848
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Camps
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,233,685
Expenses
$5,085,257
Assets
$13,381,280
Liabilities
$195,000

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Nancy Nygard Pilon (Executive Director)
  • Mark Lulka (Vice President)
  • Anastasia Kimball (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Nancy Nygard Pilon (Executive Director): $245,792 total reported compensation
  • LUIGI SCALO (BUSINESS MANAGER): $125,118 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Individual growth, discovery of life and renewal of faith are at the heart of Incarnation Center, a ministry of the Episcopal Church. We welcome all to our conference, retreat, camp and nature center programs and facilities in a beautiful environment where people, ideas and spirit flourish. Conference Center. Incarnation is situated on over 700 woodsy acres on Connecticut’s eastern shoreline. Our scenic property is home to miles of hiking trails, a ropes course, farm and a private, mile-long lake. We welcome more than 25,000 guests annually to our year-round conference and retreat center, summer camp programs and year-round outdoor education programs. We aim to provide a sacred, natural setting in which people experience growth, discovery, and renewal. lake-fall lake-AM1.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Bushy Hill Nature Center provides summer day camp with emphasis on nature and wilderness studies. The staff also provides year-round primative studies, wetland and maple sugaring programs to pre-K through grade 5 students. Bushy Hill also provides an afterschool mentoring program where we strive to provide a safe, fun and comfortable place where students can respectfully connect with their peers, elders and nature. Bushy Hill is a safe, fun, non-competitive environment where kids can experience the wonders of nature. About 3,000 individuals participate in these programs each year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 81% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.3%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 82.4%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 2.8%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.63; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.3%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 78.3% of revenue deployed · 82.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $4.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $246K · 20 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.