The Museum at Bethel Woods

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
262778926
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Liberty, NY, USA
Phone
8452952400
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,387,239
Expenses
$1,324,155
Assets
$666,920
Liabilities
$78,128

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Eric Frances (CEO/CFO/Trustee)

Highest reported compensation

  • Eric Frances (CEO/CFO/Trustee): $478,473 total reported compensation
  • Paul Christman (Treasurer): $182,869 total reported compensation
  • Neal Hitch (Museum Director/Trustee): $154,885 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 purpose of the Museum is to maintain a history and music museum providing a multi-media experience related to the significances of the 1960's and Woodstock. As an educational resource, the Museum highlights the social, political, cultural and musical transformation of the period. The Museum promotes the key ideals of the era (peace, respect, cooperation, and a connection between the planet and its people) by its involvement within the local community, encouragement of social responsibility, and advocation for a better Sullivan County and the rest of the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

See Schedule OThe Museum is an immersive and captivating multi-media experience that combines film and interactive displays, text panels, and artifacts to tell the story of the 1960's and Woodstock. It explores the unique experience of the Woodstock festival, its significance as a culminating event of a decade of radical cultural transformation, and the legacy of the Sixties and Woodstock today. The Museum serves as an educational resource for the exploration of the unique American experience of the decade of the 1960s. The main gallery exhibit highlights the social, political, cultural and musical transformations of that period as well as its legacy today.The Museum embodies the key ideals of the era it interprets: peace, respect, cooperation, and a connection to the planet and the people who inhabit it.In addition to preserving and interpreting an era, the Museum is actively involved in our community: Through education, economic development, and historical preservation; By encouraging social responsibility among our visitors and supporters; By advocating for issues that make Sullivan County, and the world at large, a better place.

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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.4%; rating input score 65
  • Program expense ratio: 68.5%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.5%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.5; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.9%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.4% of revenue deployed · 68.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $907K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $478K · 9 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.