Maine Historical Society

Overview

Mission

Maine Historical Society, founded in 1822, is a private non-profit whose mission is to preserve and share Maine's story. Based in Portland, we work closely with communities and partners throughout the state, and serve a statewide and global audience, reaching people interested in Maine throughout the world. Our core program areas include the Brown Research Library, the MHS Museum which includes the Wadsworth-Longfellow House (1785-6), and the Maine Memory Network (www.mainememory.net), our nationally recognized digital platform. Through these activities, MHS serves approximately 500,000 people each year on our campus, through outreach programs, and online.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Brown Research Library provides access to the most comprehensive collection of archival material related to Maine history and serves researchers, scholars, educators, students, genealogists, the general public, and professionals from many fields. Major recent acquisitions include the archives of the Central Maine Power Company, Bangor Theological Seminary, the Merrill Companies, Maine Medical Center, landscape architect Patrick Chasse, and architect Carol Wilson. We recently completed major collections initiatives related to our early Maine photography, Portland Press Herald, Glass Plate Negative, clothing, architecture, and Proprietors and Northeast Boundary collections. MHS also supports extensive scholarly and collections activities. We publish the scholarly journal Maine History with the History Department at the University of Maine and regularly host fellowships and scholarly forums. We also partner with and provide archival, curatorial, storage, and other services to individuals, institutions, and businesses

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.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010211530
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Portland, ME, USA
Phone
2077741822
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies & Historic Preservation

Official website

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: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 69.2%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 24th 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -55.8%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.41; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.9%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 69.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 24 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $148K · 25 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Stephen Bromage (Executive Director): $148,458 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.