Retreat Farm Ltd

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
475042006
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Brattleboro, VT, USA
Phone
8024902270
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Rural Economic Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,298,987
Expenses
$3,028,672
Assets
$15,414,947
Liabilities
$2,260,395

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LISA WHITNEY (PRESIDENT)
  • DANIEL DEMPSEY (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KRISTIN SULLIVAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • KRISTIN SULLIVAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $110,726 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Retreat farm seeks to foster a just, healthy, and sustainable community in southern Vermont by connecting people to the land and each other through our unique property, programs, and partnerships.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community services - retreat farm comprises a vast, free, and accessible public common that served 56,000 unique visitors in 2024. In addition to maintaining public trails and waterways for outdoor recreation, retreat farm hosted community gatherings, outdoor concerts, performances, art installations, and private events in collaboration with local nonprofits and community partners. The farm continued to provide critical community services as the home of the brattleboro boys and girls club after-school program and hosted the river gallery school of art summer camp.

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 82% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 87.7%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.14 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 98.7%; rating input score 99; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: -31.7%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.09; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.7%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.7% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 19% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.2% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 87.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $111K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.