Matthews Living History Farm Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
541725564
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Galax, VA, USA
Phone
2767733080
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
History Museums

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,266
Expenses
$18,149
Assets
$534,437
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHARLOTTE FRYE (VICE-PRESIDENT)
  • LYNN MCCLARY (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SHIRLEY GASHI (DIRECTOR): $20,000 total reported compensation
  • AMANDA BELTON (DIRECTOR): $20,000 total reported compensation
  • MARK LIDDLE (DIRECTOR): $20,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See schedule o

What it reported doing in 2024

Our principal program is to operate and maintain the premises as a circa 1900 farmstead for daily visitation. Major structrual damage has been and impediment to completing the restoration of the farmhouse. Work continues on repairing and restoring the structure.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 69% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99.6%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • 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: 0.6%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 29.45; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 330.6%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -46.7% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -17.6% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 99.6% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $20K · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 15 of 15 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.