Ohio Railway Museum
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 316049234
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2024
- Location
- Worthington, OH, USA
- Phone
- 6148857345
- Rating
- 46
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- History Museums
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $73,605
- Expenses
- $69,815
- Assets
- $498,478
- Liabilities
- $70,405
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Brandon Grant (Vice President)
- William Develin (President)
People named in this filing
- Brandon Grant (Vice President)
- William Develin (President)
- Roger Meyer (Treasurer)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Education is at the heart of everything we do. As custodians of a unique and historic rail collection, we hold a deep responsibility to both the past and the future to preserve the knowledge of this industry. Fueled by a passion for trains and their cultural significance, we diligently research, organize, display, and share the stories that convey the rich history of railroads and their impact on society. Preservation, our most resource-intensive objective, ensures that this history remains accessible and intact for generations to come. Countless hours are devoted to maintaining and expanding our collection, as well as the infrastructure that supports it. Our dedicated staff works tirelessly to keep the exhibits safe, operational, and enduring. None of this would be possible without the vital support of our visitors. Every ticket sold, piece of merchandise purchased, and donation given directly sustains our efforts to keep rail history alive and thriving.
What it reported doing in 2025
Beautification of the grounds to include a deck and stairs to the historic Cleveland RTA which will be used as a meeting room and area that can be rented for parties. Extended brick walkway and added flower boxes. Built a pollinator garden and added butterfly houses down the railroad mainline.
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 89% 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
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up. 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: 21
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Sustainability: 59
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 20.5%; rating input score 21
- Program expense ratio: 22%; rating input score 22
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 5.1%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.14; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 20.5% of revenue deployed · 22% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 7 filed program accomplishments · $15K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 7 of 8 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 21/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 22/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part I part ii net assets crosscheck did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 13/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.