Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
546052638
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Charlottesville, VA, USA
Phone
4342961492
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies & Historic Preservation

Reported finances

Revenue
$407,599
Expenses
$315,494
Assets
$266,214
Liabilities
$7,432

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR PHYLLIS LEFFLER (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • DR PHYLLIS LEFFLER (PRESIDENT)
  • DR SHELLEY MURPHY (VICE PRESIDE)
  • MICHAEL DICKENS (SECRETARY)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

History is not the past; it is the story we tell about the past. Every person in albemarle county and the city of charlottesville has a unique and powerful story to tell. Through collecting, preserving, and interpreting the history of our community, we are committed to informing, inspiring, and bringing together all people, creating opportunities for new relationships and new understandings.

What it reported doing in 2024

History programs, lectures, meetings, exhibits, & other events: the achs conducts in-person and virtual programs, lectures, meetings, and exhibitions, maintains an active social media presence connecting with our local community, and provides walking tours to highlight local history. We offer monthly online programs on various historical topics, including a speaker series, panel discussions, and conversational interviews called unregulated historical meanderings. We partner in our programs and events with local organizations and individuals, the city of charlottesville and albemarle county, the regional library, and public/private schools to promote a greater understanding of our local history. Our programs challenge the local community to learn from the past to better understand the present by interrogating the circumstances, forces, and choices that led to current situations within our community and the larger world.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 84% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 55.9%; rating input score 56
  • Program expense ratio: 70.7%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $19.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 19th 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: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 22.6%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.84; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.4% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 55.9% of revenue deployed · 70.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $223K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 56/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 57/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.