Verde Valley Archaeology Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
273436708
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2011
Location
Camp Verde, AZ, USA
Phone
9285670066
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Humanities Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$372,921
Expenses
$430,184
Assets
$2,785,355
Liabilities
$958,432

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Monica Buckle (Executive Director)
  • Ed Goodwin (President)
  • Sam Serrill (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Monica Buckle (Executive Director): $95,413 total reported compensation
  • Kathryn Turney (Director): $13,182 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 preserve archaeological sites and collections; to curate collections locally and make them available for research; to develop partnerships with Native American and other cultural groups; to educate the public on the cultural heritage of the area.

What it reported doing in 2024

Verde Valley Archaeology Center owns and operates a 10,800 sq. ft. museum facility including offices, analysis laboratory and artifact repository with a museum store and library where the Center maintains a variety of museum exhibits of archaeological artifacts. The Center also owns and operates a 6 acre Heritage Park and garden including a nature pathway with appropriate signage and rest areas.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 78% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.1%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 73.1%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: -15.4%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.47; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.34; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.2%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.1% of revenue deployed · 73.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $315K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $95K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 42 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 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 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.