New River Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
541003556
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2018
Location
Newbern, VA, USA
Phone
5404254339
Rating
60
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$82,694
Expenses
$72,660
Assets
$613,528
Liabilities
$1,333

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Susan DiSalvo (President)
  • Carolyn Mathews (First Vice President)
  • Julia Kriss (Second Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Susan DiSalvo (President)
  • Carolyn Mathews (First Vice President)
  • Julia Kriss (Second Vice President)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Wilderness Road Regional Museum is owned and operated by the New River Historical Society. The mission of the museum is twofold; (1) to collect, preserve and display material relating to the history of Virginia's New River Valley and (2) to educate citizens about the region's history.

What it reported doing in 2024

Guest Radio for Museum of Country Music, 160th Black Experience Talk - De Thorp, Partnership Outreach with History Oriented Non-Profits, Art Days at Historic Sites, DAR Cemetery Presentations, 250th Trollinger Gun Powder Cave Sign Dedication, WWI Presentation - Mt. Lake, Book Talks, Barn Storm Books

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 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 6
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.1%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 84.8%; rating input score 85
  • 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 9th 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: 12.1%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.44; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -10.7% per year; rating input score 0; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.6% per year; rating input score 0; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.1% of revenue deployed · 84.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 11 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $62K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.