Planting Fields Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
111770097
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Oyster Bay, NY, USA
Phone
5169228668
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,700,881
Expenses
$2,950,759
Assets
$30,355,549
Liabilities
$561,411

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GINA WOUTERS (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • GINA WOUTERS (PRESIDENT & CEO): $367,788 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.through a balanced approach to preserving and creating, the foundation stewards the built and natural environment of planting fields as a public center of learning and life.- we conserve and make accessible our tangible and intangible heritage, gifted by the coe family and shaped by 20th-century visionaries.- we celebrate human ingenuity and creativity through design, horticulture, and art.- we foster research and scholarship to deepen understanding of how nature and culture intersect.- we provide a sanctuary for personal discovery and social connectedness.

What it reported doing in 2024

Historic landscape: the foundation preserves and enhances the 409-acre historic landscape of planting fields, one of the few remaining intact gold coast estates open to the public. In 2024, with support from parks and trails New York, the foundation implemented a sitewide wayfinding and interpretive signage project. In collaboration with New York state parks, the bureau of historic sites, and international design firm wiedemann lampe, the initiative delivered 120 custom signs, 10 interpretive districts, and a new color-coded visitor map available in english, spanish, and chinese, both on-site and online. This project significantly improved navigation, broadened circulation, and enhanced visitor engagement while preserving the historic integrity of the landscape. (continued on schedule o.)in partnership with nysoprhp, in 2023, the foundation completed the restoration of the original olmsted brothers oak allee, removing diseased trees along the main entrance drive and replanting 101 native chinkapin and white oaks. This project restored a historically significant design feature while also improving biodiversity, watershed health, and carbon sequestration. The work was supported through individual giving and major gifts. With environmental protection fund support, the foundation also installed 2,000 linear feet of ada-compliant pathways linking the main parking area to key gardens, dramatically improving accessibility and equitable public access.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 72% 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

STRONG - 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 and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 73.7%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.56 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: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • 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: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -73.5%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.29; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.5%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.4% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 73.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $368K · 23 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.