Plimoth Patuxet Museums Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 042210750
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
- Location
- Plymouth, MA, USA
- Phone
- 5087461622
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- History Museums
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $15,068,165
- Expenses
- $10,476,936
- Assets
- $43,840,357
- Liabilities
- $6,501,068
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
25 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- RICHARD PICKERING (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
- THOMAS BEGLEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (EFF. MAY 2025))
- ELLIE DONOVAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (THRU MAY 2025))
Highest reported compensation
- THOMAS BEGLEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (EFF. MAY 2025)): $144,850 total reported compensation
- IVAN LIPTON (CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFIC): $140,823 total reported compensation
- MICHELLE SOVERINO (ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $137,804 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Plimoth patuxet's mission is to provide compelling, educational experiences built on thorough research about wampanoag people and the colonial english community in the 1600s. A smithsonian affiliate, the museum seeks to re-create the people, artifacts and landscape of 17th-century plymouth through its major living history exhibits, mayflower ii, the wampanoag homesite, 17th-century english village, craft center and plimoth grist mill.
What it reported doing in 2025
Plimoth patuxet is one of america's most historically and culturally significant museums. Exhibits include the wampanoag homesite, 17th-century english village, craft center, nye barn, plimoth grist mill, and mayflower ii. Additional facilities on the 130-acre campus contribute to the overall guest experience as well as their enjoyment and comfort. Plimoth patuxet owns and maintains the mayflower ii, a 69-year old, full scale reproduction of the vessel that brought the pilgrims to plymouth. The museum has a rich collection of original artifacts that show daily life between 1500 and 1700. The artifacts come from places such as new england, great britain, and the netherlands, and represent the material culture that the pilgrims and wampanoag would have known. Museum researchers and artisans use the artifacts to help re-create the living history exhibits guests see at plimoth patuxet. The museum's educational programs help students explore and understand america's founding story. A visit to plimoth patuxet provides access to historic places and events that are vividly brought to life in an evocative environment. In addition, plimoth patuxet living history educators bring the story of plymouth's earliest native and colonial residents to tens of thousands of students in classrooms across the united states. Students who cannot visit or bring a plimoth patuxet educator to their classroom can enter the story through curated exhibits and teacher resources on www.plimoth.org.
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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 66
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 74
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 63.4%; rating input score 63
- Program expense ratio: 80.1%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: $10.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
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: 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: 9 of 9 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 30.5%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.18; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.7%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 63.4% of revenue deployed · 80.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $145K · 25 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $236K reported
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 36/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 59/100.