The Y at Watson Woods

Legal name: Watson Homestead Conference and Retreat Center Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
432038723
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2021
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2021
Location
Painted Post, NY, USA
Phone
6079620541
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Christianity
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,260,130
Expenses
$370,779
Assets
$1,904,627
Liabilities
$30,611

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • J Michael Harris (Board President)
  • Eric D Elder (Board Vice President)
  • Brian Dana (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Mary Hickey (Finance Manager): $7,634 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Watson Homestead provides lodging, facilities, and programs for those seeking educational enrichment, relaxation, and spiritual renewal.

What it reported doing in 2021

Watson Homestead is a full service conference and retreat center, open year-round, serving 8,000 - 10,000 guests annually. In addition to hotel-style accommodations and meeting rooms, Watson Homestead Conference and Retreat Center has an indoor, heated swimming pool; climbing tower, historic one room schoolhouse, hiking trails, miniature golf, archery range, ball fields, covered picnic pavilion, full summer cabin area, playgrounds and a meditation labyrinth. Guests are served home-cooked, healthy meals buffet style in our dining room with a fireplace and panoramic view of 375 acres. (Continued on Schedule O)Watson Homestead is an excellent location for youth, sports or organizational retreats, weddings, clergy or religious retreat groups, conferences, trade shows, banquets, seminars, quilt, scrapping, yoga and wellness retreats, team building and staff training retreats. Due to the pandemic, the organization was closed for most of the year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 43
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 85
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 25.3%; rating input score 25
  • Program expense ratio: 85.8%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 70.6%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.14; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.1%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6.8% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 25.3% of revenue deployed · 85.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $318K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $8K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2011 to 2021
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 25/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.