Lake View Cemetery Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
341429875
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Cleveland, OH, USA
Phone
2164212665
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,174,758
Expenses
$1,872,503
Assets
$10,452,928
Liabilities
$316,774

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Katharine Goss (Pres & CEO of LVC Assoc)

Highest reported compensation

  • Katharine Goss (Pres & CEO of LVC Assoc): $215,967 total reported compensation
  • Danielle Paskowski (Financial Officer): $159,235 total reported compensation
  • Leah Whidden (Exec Director): $157,113 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 Lake View Cemetery Foundation works to ensure that the beauty of Lake View Cemetery's historic buildings, monuments and gardens, will be preserved for future generations to enjoy; and to provide educational outreach programs to benefit and enrich the community

What it reported doing in 2024

Horticulture: Lake View Cemetery was recently accredited as a Level II Certified Arboretum as an organizations that serves as a model for sustainable horticultural practices, public education, and urban greenspace. Our 285 acres contain a showcase of trees and shrubbery, cultivated for scientific, ornamental and educational purposes. Lake View is fortunate to steward seven "Moses Cleaveland" trees, which would have been standing when Moses Cleaveland founded the city. Of the original 150 trees identified in 1946, only 77 remain. Now at over 225 years old, these majestic wonders greatly contribute numerous environmental benefits to our community, and as historic landmarks, Lake View acknowledges the great responsibility of continuing to protect them. The Foundation supports the care and protection of older, established trees as well as continued planting of new trees and maintenance of the varied landscape design throughout the property. Support for the tree canopy is part of the overall capital campaign.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 63% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.6%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 68.2%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: Limited
  • 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: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.9%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.58; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.2%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.6% of revenue deployed · 68.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $216K · 15 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $415K reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 11/100.