Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities

What it reported doing in 2024

Pli provides educational and advisory services to help local groups advance preservation advocacy initiatives in their own communities. Pli held its preservation awards ceremony on january 25, 2025 in the headquarters exhibition gallery. The awards for project excellance were awards to: (1)the safina center, a nonprofit nature conservation and environmental advocacy organization, for its restoration of the hawkins- elzon house within the old setauket historic district;(2) anthony martignetti, for his restoration of the mattituck creek tide mill; and (3) the church, a public arts space in sag harbor, thanks to the leadership of artists, april gornik and eric fischl, architect lee skolnick, and landscape architect edmund hollander. The preservation award for organizational excellance went to suffolk county for their work preserving owl hill. The howard c. Sherwood award was posthumously award to brian pinnola for his lifetime achievement in historic preservation. June 2025 benefit we held our june 2025 benefit at "cocuyo," a beautiful harrie t. Lindeberg house that was built for f. Edwin church and is now owned and was meticulously restored by trustee alfredo paredes and brad goldfarb. Pli presented messrs. Paredes and goldfarb with a plaque in recognition of their "outstanding preservation excellence." the extraordinary generosity at this event set a new fundraising record for pli benefits and greatly expanded our circle of supporters. Exhibitions in exhibitions, our newest exhibition, making a name for himself: the life and art of f. Edwin church, opened on september 18, 2025 to great press coverage and strong visitation. By highlighting church's work and his contributions to the local community, we hope visitors will gain a renewed appreciation for the north shore's cultural and artistic heritage at the turn of the last century. This exhibition will remain on display in our gallery until december 21, 2025. Promoting long island: the art of edward lange, 1870-1880 was on display in the gallery from august 16 to december 1, 2024 and welcomed 1760 visitors. This exhibition drew the largest number of visitors to pli since 2017. The activities surrounding edward lange included a book launch party held at the lowndes house in northport and a curator tour of the exhibition led by former curatorial fellow peter fedoryk and chief curator lauren brincat. Also, the book received the 2025 greater hudson heritage network award for excellence. Education and engagement pli hosted its first ever juneteenth poetry celebration at joseph lloyd manor in partnership with the caribbean american poetry association. The event featured original poetry written by yasmin morais, keisha-gaye anderson, and lindamichelle baron, as well as the next generation of student poets from long island, including the nassau county teen poet laureate and suffolk county teen poet laureate. Margaret sullivan speaker series thanks to generous support from the margaret sullivan fund, we have created an exciting, vibrant speaker series aimed at increasing our audience and filling an ever-increasing demand for adult education. Lectures include: - jake gorst discusses andrew geller: deconstructed. - black poetry day: james g. Basker discusses the black presence in the founding era. - architect sam white discusses the architect as client: sanford white at "box hill." on january 24, 2025 at christie's americana sale, pli successfully acquired a magnificent painting of ephraim niles byram (1809-1881) by orlando hand bears. Ephraim byram was an astronomer, clockmaker, woodworker, bookbinder, naturalist, philosopher, horticulturalist, and mechanic, and this portrait presents pli with significant educational and interpretive opportunities at the custom house in sag harbor, as well as in our exhibition gallery. More details to come.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 98.4%; rating input score 98
• Program expense ratio: 72.4%; rating input score 72
• Fundraising efficiency: $12.58 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 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: NotApplicable
  • 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: -34.9%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.16; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 4%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings