Schooner Adventure

Legal name: The Gloucester Adventureinc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
043020719
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Gloucester, MA, USA
Phone
978.281.8079
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
History Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$894,749
Expenses
$762,783
Assets
$2,251,953
Liabilities
$383,327

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GREG BOVER (PRESIDENT)
  • PETER SOUZA (VICE PRESIDENT-OPERATIONS)

People named in this filing

  • GREG BOVER (PRESIDENT)
  • PETER SOUZA (VICE PRESIDENT-OPERATIONS)
  • WILLIAM BARTON (DIRECTOR)

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

Restore and preserve the Schooner Adventure for the enrichment of future generations and their understanding of the maritime history and environment of the New England coast.

What it reported doing in 2025

To preserve the schooner adventure as a living symbol of america's maritime heritage, and as a community resource for educational programming focusing on maritime, cultural, and environmental issues

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 67% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 assets have declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.2%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 90.3%; rating input score 90
  • 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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.7%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.95; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 11 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 3 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 77.2% of revenue deployed · 90.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $689K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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: Whistleblower policy not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.