Spirit of Columbia Gardens Carousel Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810512992
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Butte, MT, USA
Phone
4065603309
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Parks and Playgrounds

Reported finances

Revenue
$186,377
Expenses
$196,647
Assets
$749,135
Liabilities
$53,744

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ED CURRAN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JIM AYRES (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ED CURRAN (VICE PRESIDENT): $31,570 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission is to bring butte people and civic resources together to construct and operate a hand carved carousel reminiscent of what we remember about the columbia gardens. The focus of this program is to: reclaim, restore, and preserve an important part of butte's history, teach the dying art of hand-carved horses and embellishments. We will enhance the quality of community life by providing present and future generations with a unique opportunity to enjoy the simple pleasure of having fun together.

What it reported doing in 2024

Operation of gift shop and fundraising for the carousel building.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 71% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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

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 revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.4%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 82.4%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -5.5%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.81; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.1%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.4% of revenue deployed · 82.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $162K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $32K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.