Vaughan Woods and Historic Homestead

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
311705280
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-PF 2021
Location
Hallowell, ME, USA
Phone
2076229831
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Private Grantmaking Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$485,005
Expenses
$500,067
Assets
$4,506,376
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GEORGE L GIBSON (PRESIDENT)
  • KATIE TREMBLAY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • KATIE TREMBLAY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $66,014 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Vaughan woods and historic homestead connects people to place through nature, history and the arts by preserving and stewarding its natural, cultural and historical resources and sharing them with the community of hallowell, Maine and beyond.

What it reported doing in 2024

Maintain the vaughan homestead, its surrounding gardens and grounds, and its collection of historic documents and artifacts as resources for the community and for use in public programs and events. Education, research and community programs includes "moore ice company field trips to cascade pond" with hall dale 4th grade, "historians love maps" field trip to the homestead with hall-dale 3rd grade,"summer museum internship and fellowship" program to providing college and graduate students with a hands-on internship experience in a small museum, ongoing historical exhibit at hubbard library, "night out at the museum fine arts tour," "community maypole dance," "summer house tours," "fall community gathering," senior college visit, host gaslight theater summer performances, host hall-dale middle school "day of caring" 7th grade service project, and host the kennebec land trust annual board and advisor's dinner. Accomplishments included utilizing the historical resources to provide programming that supports hall-dale 3rd grade and 4th grade curriculum, promoting community by sharing the beautiful gardens and grounds for use by local schools and groups, connecting students to their local natural landscape and promote stewardship of the natural world through fun and educational outdoor programming, engaging the public in discourse about history and historical objects through the lens of the vaughan family and their seven generations of residency at the vaughan homestead, promote community stewardship and citizenship by hosting day long service event on the trails and around the grounds of the vaughan homestead, share collection of historical artifacts and promote an understanding of our community's past through interpretive exhibits displayed at local library. Estimated 21,200 people in 2024 served.

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 99% 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 and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 67.5%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th 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: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.1%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.01; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.2%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 34.7% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 67.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $338K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $66K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.