Surprise Lake Camp
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 131623869
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Aug 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Cold Spring, NY, United States
- Phone
- 845-265-3616
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Judaism
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $4,358,852
- Expenses
- $4,913,645
- Assets
- $14,055,253
- Liabilities
- $894,373
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
29 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Charles Jainchill (President)
- Matthew Grosshandler (Vice President)
- MARK LEVINE (Vice President)
- Eve Rubinstein (Vice President)
- Cindy Shmerler (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- ADAM BENDESON (Executive Dir.): $215,996 total reported compensation
- Sheryl Kirschenbaum (Camp Director): $127,600 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Surprise Lake Camps mission is to provide a high-quality camping experience primarily for Jewish children which fosters their social, moral, cultural, physical, and emotional education and development. The Board of Directors of Surprise Lake Camp — a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization — is responsible for the long-term fiscal health of the organization, for its strategic planning and policies, and for ensuring that its legacy is strong and vibrant. We are fortunate to benefit from this Board’s deep expertise in many fields and passionate commitment to the mission, values, and community of this camp. Members include alumni and parents — a mix of business and community leaders — each one integral to, invested in, and actively involved with the success of SLC in achieving its mission. We are grateful that they are all so generous with their time, insight, and support for the work of SLC’s...
What it reported doing in 2025
Surprise Lake Camps mission is to provide a high-quality camping experience primarily for Jewish children which fosters their social, moral, cultural, physical, and emotional education and development. This is achieved through wholesome recreation, Jewish ritual, environmental education, diverse program opportunities, responsible supervision, and healthful surroundings. Surprise Lake Camp is committed to serving families regardless of their ability to pay.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 60% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 90% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 73
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 36
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 93.3%; rating input score 93
- Program expense ratio: 82.4%; rating input score 82
- Fundraising efficiency: $7.11 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
- Requires narrative reports: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Fail
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th 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: 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: -12.7%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.86; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 93.3% of revenue deployed · 82.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 27 of 27 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $216K · 29 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $774K reported
- Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.