The Saturday Evening Post Society Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
310896583
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone
3176341100
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Professional Societies, Associations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,832,518
Expenses
$11,601,368
Assets
$42,780,187
Liabilities
$4,350,361

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Joan SerVaas (Chairman/President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Joan SerVaas (Chairman/President): $210,608 total reported compensation
  • Amanda McDowell (Secretary/COO): $137,462 total reported compensation
  • Tamatha Crist (Treasurer/CFO): $121,536 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To promote, advocate and disseminate (through publications, forums, displays, research, museums and other means) to subscribers, researchers and the general public information with respect to current and historical development and the support of research in science, medicine, literature and the arts.

What it reported doing in 2024

Fitness Farm Facility: To collaborate with hospitals, governmental agencies, educational institutions & other like-minded organizations to educate the community, with an emphasis on obese children, on living a healthy lifestyle using a holistic approach to support mind, body, & spirit. Archiving magazine history: To preserve the literary, artistic and general history of the Saturday Evening Post as one of the countrys oldest magazines. Art Contest Program: To encourage art development in youth and to help fund art programs in schools. Fiction Contest: To encourage & promote novice writers & publish quality literature.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 72% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some related-organization disclosures are missing.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 57
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.6%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 85.1%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 66.1%; rating input score 66; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Scored; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.69; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.2%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.6% of revenue deployed · 85.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $9.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $211K · 13 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.5M reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 17 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 7 filed related-organization links
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.