The Main Idea at Camp Walden
Legal name: The Main Idea Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 010284115
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Aug 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Mamaroneck, NY, US
- Phone
- (215) 598-2545
- Rating
- 87
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $498,393
- Expenses
- $359,028
- Assets
- $1,753,456
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ALICE TENNEY (PRESIDENT)
- LINDSEY EHRENWERTH (VICE PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- AMY LEVERE (DIRECTOR)
- CINDY SHMERLER (SECRETARY)
- JAN WEIL (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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Main Idea provides economically disadvantaged girls with a no-cost summer camp experience that builds self-confidence and promotes leadership skills, all within the natural splendor of the Maine woods. The empowerment that comes from learning to resolve conflicts and make productive life choices teaches the girls to respect one another and enables them to build a community upon which they can rely all year round.
What it reported doing in 2024
The main idea, inc. Maintains a program for economically disadvantaged girls at camp walden, denmark, Maine. The non-profit organization runs a camp for 10 days at camp walden each summer. In 2024 the camp served 96 children.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 75% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
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.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 88
- Sustainability: 79
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 76.1%; rating input score 76
- Program expense ratio: 89.5%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: $123 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 28%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.88; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 76.1% of revenue deployed · 89.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $321K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 17 people listed
- Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.