Altadena Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237372694
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2024
Location
Altadena, CA, USA
Phone
6267978016
Rating
62
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Reported finances

Revenue
$438,026
Expenses
$36,199
Assets
$451,163
Liabilities
$3,798

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Veronica Jones (President)

People named in this filing

  • Veronica Jones (President)
  • Steven McCall (Secretary)
  • Marlane Forsberg (Treasurer)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Historical Societys collections are archived in 800 square feet at the Altadena Community Center and include a vast array of unique historical material. Volunteers run AHS for the benefit of current and future members residents scholars educators students writers and journalists who want to learn more about Altadenas past.

What it reported doing in 2025

The Ellen Garrison Clark Scholarship Program is our way of honoring a woman whose courage still echoes through Altadena. Born to enslaved parents Ellen Garrison Clark became a fierce defender of civil rights and educationoften at great personal risk. Her story reminds us that progress is built by everyday people who refuse to be silenced. To carry her legacy forward the Altadena Historical Society awards four scholarships every Juneteenth to local students who embody her values of learning service and determination. The program also includes a community hike inviting residents to walk together in celebration of freedom resilience and the landscape that shaped Clarks life and work. In January the Altadena Historical Society welcomed the community back for its first speaker event since the Eaton Fire featuring a powerful and engaging talk by Paul Ayers. More than sixty residents filled the room-neighbors longtime members and newcomers eager to reconnect and learn. Ayers guided the audience through a vivid history of Altadena before the fires then traced how fire has shaped the foothills neighborhoods and community identity over the decades. His talk helped residents place the Eaton Fire within a much larger story of resilience and adaptation.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 39
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 86
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 6.8%; rating input score 7
  • Program expense ratio: 77.2%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $119.99 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 91.7%; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.46; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 6.8% of revenue deployed · 77.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $28K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 7/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.