Westport Historical Society Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237270158
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Westport, MA, USA
- Phone
- 5086366011
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $479,905
- Expenses
- $477,206
- Assets
- $1,400,465
- Liabilities
- $1,616
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ALBERT LEES (PRESIDENT)
- YVONNE BARR (VICE PRESIDENT)
- CINDY BROWN (TREASURER/SECOND VICE PRESIDENT)
- JENNY O'NEILL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- JENNY O'NEILL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $71,063 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The organization's mission is to educate and connect the residents of the area to their heritage through public programs, exhibits, publications and research and to collect, preserve and document the material culture of westport, Massachusetts. The organization owns and is responsible for the historic preservation of the bell school house and handy house located in westport.
What it reported doing in 2024
Bell schoolhouse: bell school ca. 1841 was so named because of a bell in its tower. The original name of the school was sandy hill academy. In the early 1900s bell school was renamed alumni hall with a library on the second floor and a community hall on the first floor. During the westport fair and cattle show held at the head from 1911-1930, bell school was used as an agricultural hall for fair exhibits. The westport fair and cattle show was the forerunner of the present westport agricultural fair. Presently the bell school is the home of the westport historical society. This property was deeded to the organization subject to covenants to use the property for antiquarian and/or historical purposes and to maintain the property and its belfry within specific dimensions. Bell school cannot be sold but must be transferred to another antiquarian or historical society, without charge.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 82% 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
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 76
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 49
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 78.3%; rating input score 78
- Program expense ratio: 68.4%; rating input score 68
- Fundraising efficiency: $273.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 93; 93rd 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- 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: 0.6%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.93; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 14.9%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 78.3% of revenue deployed · 68.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $326K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $71K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- 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.
- 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.