Salems Riverfront Carousel

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911815668
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Salem, OR, USA
Phone
5035400374
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Parks and Playgrounds

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$443,872
Expenses
$465,841
Assets
$539,511
Liabilities
$2,592

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TROY HICKMAN (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARIE BRADFORD-BLEVINS (Executive Dir.): $92,300 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To enhance the quality of life in the willamette valley by invigorating community cohesiveness, fostering cultural and educational opportunities, creating a living history and increasing tourism.

What it reported doing in 2024

Salem's riverfront carousel (the carousel) improved the quality of community life in Oregon by operating a building which houses a beautiful handcarved wooden carousel that adults and children of all ages enjoy. Operations for 2021 included the maintenance of the carousel and the carousel building as well as providing paid carousel rides, free rides on christmas day and new years day, free rides for the disabled and free rides to military families. In addition the carousel hosted community events, including santa's arrival by train (with the help of portland western railroad). The carousel hosted birthday parties, private after hours events and tours/group visits throughout the year.

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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.6%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 68.6%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.86 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 27th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.9%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.16; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.8%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.7% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.6% of revenue deployed · 68.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $320K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $92K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.