Chosen Vale Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
The mission of the Enfield Shaker Museum, an educational institution, is to preserve and share its historical structures, landscape, and Shaker cultural heritage with our multi-generational visitors, members, and the global community.
- Income
- $1.4 million
- Spending
- $837,732
- Spent on programs
- 80%
- Reserves
- 6.2 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 73%
- Employees
- 12
- Volunteers
- 217
Source: Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 78 out of 100. Higher than 58% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
28 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 6.2 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 1% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 41% of income.
Income trend
0 of 15Income fell 47% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1580% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 4 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Good: 84 out of 100. Higher than 35% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2514 of 14 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Independent check of accounts
0 of 15Its accounts were not audited or reviewed by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (3)
- $670,470 spent. Preservation: The Museum is actively restoring, preserving, and maintaining the remaining built environment of the original Shaker village, established in 1793 along the shore of Mascoma Lake. This national historic site contains 14 extant Shaker buildings (the earliest dating to 1813 built by the Shakers of Enfield) after the purchase of an adjacent property in September 2023. TThe 60 acres also contain a mill pond and related water technology, two cemeteries, and a historic garden featuring Shaker heirloom plant varieties situated within a larger historic built environment surrounded by state-protected lands (on which is the unique Shaker Feast Ground atop of Mount Assurance, which the Museum also maintains). The Museum preserves its building collection through rigorous research and adherence to Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. The site's domestic, agricultural, and industrial buildings document 150 years of the Shakers' creation and occupation of the site. All have been recorded through professional architectural renderings, archaeological excavations and surveys, and documentary historical research. These buildings not only tell the story of the Shakers who lived, worked, and worshipped here; these buildings also document the 130 years of American building technology.
- Education: Education is the heart of Enfield Shaker Museum's mission. Through the Museum's historic buildings and built environment, artifactual collections, archaeological collections, archives, and library, professional staff members, skilled craftspeople, scholars, and volunteers provide to a diverse and growing public a variety of programs and exhibitions with which to learn about and learn from the Shakers of Enfield, New Hampshire. Trained interpreters and staff educators provide general and topical tours and site interpretation geared to visitor-initiated questions. Visitors may also take self-guided tours of the historic site. Throughout the year visitors may learn history, Shaker trades and industries, and sustainability through doing historic crafts, foodways, and activities provided through demonstrations and hands-on workshops (oval boxes, knives, brooms, spinning, weaving, textile dyeing, gardening, timber-framing, for example). Talks, lectures, and tours explore the Shakers within their historical context and raise questions about communalism, racial and gender equality, pacifism, and tolerance today. The Museum is dedicated to supporting local primary, secondary, and higher education. Our History Alive field trip program allows New Hampshire and Vermont students to explore local history and the Enfield Shakers' legacy through history-based hands-on activities. In fiscal year 2023, over 300 students and teachers participated in this program. As part of our ongoing commitment to making these field trips as accessible as possible, the Museum provides free admission to students in the Mascoma Valley Regional School District. We award transportation grants to several local schools that otherwise would not have been able to attend the program. Each summer junior and senior high school students enroll in our field ecology school, learning the history of the Shakers' land use and the interconnection between human activity and the environment. Funds were given to provide full scholarships to local students in need, to pay an instructor's salary, and for general supplies.
- Events: From Shaker Day in late April/early May through December's Festival of Trees the Museum is open to visitors, overnight guests, students, and volunteers who participate in large educational, celebratory, and fundraising events that build and strengthen community and increase knowledge. The Museum's opening day is full of tours and activities geared to members, children, and Enfield residents (who always enjoy free admission). In late April the prestigious Spring Shaker Forum, a national recognized venue for Shaker scholarship, occurs. Every year the Forum increases in speakers and in participants. During the summer months the Museum is home to the Center for Advanced Musical Studies at Chosen Vale, which offers its students a variety of musical experiences and training. September's annual Harvest Festival is geared to families and children, offering craft activities and demonstrations, farm animals, musicians and entertainers, and other activities related to agriculture and food throughout the year. Our Harvest festilval in September brings over 700 people to thje museum in one day against the spectacular autumn backdrop fo this historic site. The Museum's Cider and Cheese Festival acknowledges and interprets the Shakers' excellence in growing and using apples and in making cheese by featuring New England cheesemongers and cideries against the spectacular autumn backdrop of this historic site. The Museum's annual gala and auction takes place in November and is one of the institution's biggest fundraisers. Last, the Museum's annual Festival of Trees brings visitors to the Great Stone Dwelling in a year-end celebration of community.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending September 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since May 1987.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.