Seminary Ridge Historic Preservation Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
233011270
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Gettysburg, PA, USA
Phone
7173391300
Rating
59
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,407,326
Expenses
$767,324
Assets
$1,125,741
Liabilities
$793,891

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PETER MIELE (PRESIDENT & EXEC. DIR. (UNTIL 6/24))
  • JUDY MORLEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (AS OF 10/24))

Highest reported compensation

  • THE REV DR R GUY ERWIN (DIRECTOR): $289,480 total reported compensation
  • BRANDEE CARRIGAN (TREASURER): $161,386 total reported compensation
  • TERESA SMALLWOOD (DIRECTOR): $114,122 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 restore, preserve and maintain the national historic civil war properties, architecture and other legacies related to seminary ridge at gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and to provide related education and communication of the foregoing for the benefit of the public.

What it reported doing in 2024

Since 2013, seminary ridge historic preservation foundation (srhpf) has operated seminary ridge museum (museum) within the historic 1832 lutheran seminary building, witness to the first day of the battle of gettysburg. The museum features 20,000 square feet of interactive exhibits, a classroom with distance-learning capabilities, and space for supporting activities. Related programming engages visitors and participants in various educational offerings with the issues of the civil war era and its effects on contemporary society. In 2020, the museum rebranded as seminary ridge museum and education center (srmec) to emphasize its commitment to education.

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.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 46
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 83
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 35.9%; rating input score 36
  • Program expense ratio: 63.2%; rating input score 63
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 45.5%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.47; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.71; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 32.1%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.7% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.9% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -14.8% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 35.9% of revenue deployed · 63.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 21 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $485K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $289K · 25 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 46/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.