New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill

Legal name: Worcester County Horticultural Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
041988945
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Boylston, MA, US
Phone
508.869.6111
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Garden Club, Horticultural Program

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,680,272
Expenses
$7,917,341
Assets
$59,413,619
Liabilities
$1,180,247

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

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MATTHEW MATTUS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JIM KARADIMOS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • CATHERINE COLINVAUX (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • GAYLE WEISS (PRESIDENT)
  • LISA MCDONOUGH (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KENT DUR RUSSELL (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • GRACE ELTON (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $305,678 total reported compensation
  • THERESA LEE (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $181,890 total reported compensation
  • JANE ELLIS (CHIEF FINANCIAL OPERATING OFFICER): $170,664 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Experience the wonder of plants at a botanic garden in the heart of New England.

What it reported doing in 2024

Horticulture - new england botanic garden at tower hill features seventeen distinct gardens, two indoor conservatories, meadows, woodland plant collections, trails, meadows, ponds, and conservation land of 200 acres. In addition, the garden has a focused outreach in surrounding communities, including worcester, the second largest city in new england. Nebg staff engages members of the community through a variety of projects aimed improving the quality of life in urban areas through plants and access to nature. With guidance and support from the outreach committee of the board of trustees, nebg staff and volunteers partner with organizations on projects such as tree maintenance, urban greening, stormwater maintenance, environmental education, and more. Nebg's outreach work also includes serving as a resource for local stakeholders and educating the public about plant-based solutions to issues including environmental justice and climate change.

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

SUPPORTED - 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: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.4%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 67.8%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.8%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.5; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.2%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 72.4% of revenue deployed · 67.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 26 of 26 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $5.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $306K · 32 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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 10/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.