The Arden Craft Shop Museum Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 510400105
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
- Location
- Arden, DE, USA
- Phone
- 3024753060
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Museum, Museum Activities
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $29,802
- Expenses
- $29,768
- Assets
- $420,780
- Liabilities
- $19,971
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ROBIN MACDONALD (VICE PRESIDENT- CURRENT)
- PETER W SLATTERY (PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- THOMAS WHEELER (BOARD MEMBER)
- ROBIN MACDONALD (VICE PRESIDENT- CURRENT)
- BARBARA A MACKLEM (TREASURER)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The ardens, the collective name for the villages of arden, ardentown, and ardencroft, is one of the oldest non-religious intentional communities in the united states and the only entire village to be placed on the national historic register. The arden craft shop museum preserves the ardens' rich history through the documentation of residents' creative work and activities past and present. The museum collection includes paintings, photographs, textiles, ceramics, prints, furniture and ironwork. Archival material in the collection documents architectural, theatrical, musical, dance, and literary contributions by arden residents, as well as photographs of artwork that no longer survives or is dispersed in private collections. The primary activities of the museum are to preserve the existing collection and acquire new material that relates to the history of the ardens, create related exhibitions and public programs, and provide support for scholarly research on the communities.
What it reported doing in 2025
To maintain a museum which preserves the complex history of the three ardens (arden, ardentown and ardencroft); and displays and cares for the historic collections and works of art by local artisans from the 1900's to the present.
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
STRONG - 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: 89
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 70
- Sustainability: 54
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
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: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: 0.1%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 14.14; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -4.9% per year; rating input score 0; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 27th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $30K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2014 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 51/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.