African-american Heritage Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
421415305
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Cedar Rapids, IA, USA
Phone
3198622101
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Cultural, Ethnic Awareness

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$930,796
Expenses
$831,499
Assets
$5,685,868
Liabilities
$27,880

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NANCY HUMBLES LEFT JAN 24 (PRESIDENT)
  • ABENA SANKOFA IMHOTEP (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRIANNA KIM (DEPUTY DIREC): $67,880 total reported compensation
  • LANISHA CASSELL LEFT OCT 24 (EXECUTIVE DI): $59,057 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To preserve, exhibit, and teach the african american heritage of Iowa.

What it reported doing in 2024

To accomplish the mission, the organization runs a museum that produces exhibits, on-site programs, off-site programs, virtual programs, and houses a collection. Exhibits: the museum's facility features two exhibit galleries. The permanent exhibit, "endless possibilities", explores over 200 years of Iowa's african american history. The changing exhibit gallery hosts a new exhibit each year on a different theme. Several traveling exhibits are also made available to organizations, businesses, libraries, and other museums for a small fee. The museum building was closed from late 2022 through may 11, 2024 due to a major renovation. During this time, off-site exhibits were held at the cedar rapids public library and cedar rapids museum of art. Traveling exhibits were rented 41 times in 13 different communities in 2024 with an estimated viewership of 16,800 people. The museum conducts numerous programs for youth and adults, both on-site at the museum and off-site at locations around the state. This includes hands-on workshops, lectures, and performances. 64 programs at the museum and around Iowa reached 2022 people in 15 Iowa communities. The museum maintains a collection of approximately 3,000 objects, over 100 linear feet of archival material, and dozens of oral histories. In addition to preserving these items for future generations, they are utilized in exhibits and programs. Most of the collection database and a selection of oral histories are available on the museum's website. From fall 2022 may 2024, the museum closed to the public for a major renovation project that transformed the buildings interior and exterior. During the renovation, the museum maintained its mission fulfillment through off-site programs and exhibits. From may december 2024, 2473 people visited the museums on- site exhibits.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 57.8%; rating input score 58
  • Program expense ratio: 64.4%; rating input score 64
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.08 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

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: 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: NotApplicable
    • 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: 10.7%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.84; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.3%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.3% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.6% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 57.8% of revenue deployed · 64.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $536K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $68K · 22 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.