The Steamer Virginia V Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
910989160
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2066249119
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies & Historic Preservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$633,001
Expenses
$558,426
Assets
$2,388,784
Liabilities
$187,237

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Alicia Barnes (Executive Director (hired March 2023))
  • Jeffrey Deren (Vice President; Sec'y 12/14 into 2025)
  • Garret Holt (President thru 12/12/24)

Highest reported compensation

  • Alicia Barnes (Executive Director (hired March 2023)): $78,633 total reported compensation
  • Jeffrey Deren (Vice President; Sec'y 12/14 into 2025): $18,001 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Restoration, preservation, operation, and interpretation of the National Historic Landmark vessel Steamer Virginia V, the largest operational wooden passenger steamship in the United States. The vessel is used for public events, education programs, and private charters.

What it reported doing in 2024

Interpretation/Education: VIRGINIA V held over 120 days of open-ship at Lake Union Park and Puget Sound ports during 2024, welcoming 11,360 people for free visits. Our Senior Docent and volunteers led guided tours for almost all of these occasions, acquainting visitors with the ship and the history of the Puget Sound mosquito fleet. During 17 private and 14 public dockside events, the ship welcomed over 1,284 additional visitors. During cruises, crew routinely engaged passengers to tell the ship's story or describe its operation, and docents were specifically aboard during Steamship Sunday cruises to interpret the ship and the Lake Union/Portage Bay maritime history. The ship's steam engine remains fully visible to visitors and passengers. Engineering crew provided detailed interpretation of this artifact, in service since 1907 when it was installed on the ship that became VIRGINIA IV, and our Captains welcomed passengers into the wheelhouse underway when the safety of vessel operation permitted. Foundation staff and volunteers revel in sharing the ship and did so at every opportunity. The Foundation continued its summer internship program for high schoolers, hiring three students who worked 244 hours on the ship in deck- and engine-crew capacities. All became qualified to serve as crew of record in junior deck positions, and two have subsequently completed or begun formal maritime education. Two of our regular 2024 deck volunteers are also now working in the industry, having used their time with VIRGINIA V as their starting point. The ship welcomed several student groups for dockside tours tailored to their particular focus (e.g. Seattle Skills Center, Seattle Maritime Academy).

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.
  • 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.8%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 80.7%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.07 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 11.8%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.28; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.3%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.8% of revenue deployed · 80.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $451K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $79K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 27/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.