Maine Lighthouse Museum
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 200304972
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Rockland, ME, USA
- Phone
- 2075943301
- Rating
- 63
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Museum, Museum Activities
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $130,584
- Expenses
- $170,756
- Assets
- $284,233
- Liabilities
- $5,111
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
People named in this filing
- Zachary Leach (BOD member)
- Stephen Liberty (Member at Large)
- Joe Lebherz (BOD member)
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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of the Maine Lighthouse Museum is to educate the public regarding the long-standing traditions, heroism and progress of America's Lighthouse and Lifesaving services and the United States Coast Guard through the conservation and interpretation of the nation's most significant collection of lighthouse and lifesaving artifacts. Preserve and Exhibit Historic Lighthouse Memorabilia.Form 990, Part III, Line 4d-All other accomplishments -Preserve and Exhibit Historic Lighthouse MemorabiliaForm 990, Part VI, Line 11B-Organization's process to review form 990 No review was or will be conducted.Form 990, Part VI, line 19b-Governing Documents Disclosure Explanation, No documents available to the public
What it reported doing in 2025
Preserve and Exhibit Historic Lighthouse Memorabilia
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 94% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 45
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 64
- Sustainability: 31
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 53.8%; rating input score 54
- Program expense ratio: 43.6%; rating input score 44
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -30.8%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.66; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 17.3% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -19.1% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 53.8% of revenue deployed · 43.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $74K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
- Schedules: 2 filed schedules
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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 54/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 44/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.