American Political Items Collectors

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521265356
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025
Location
Northridge, CA, USA
Phone
8186449231
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$84,127
Expenses
$84,085
Assets
$112,315

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Tony Lee (President)
  • Michael Dunham (Vice President)
  • Frank Acker (Vice President)
  • Patrick Mara (Vice President)
  • Michael McQuillen (Vice President)
  • David Stelzer (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Tony Lee (President)
  • Winston Blair (Secretary)
  • Tom Morton (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-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide information on American Political Campaigns and emphemera.

What it reported doing in 2025

Primary Exempt Purpose -The American Political Items Collectors, Inc. APIC provides information on the history of American Political Campaigns and Ephemera to members and the general public, cooperating with the media, museums, and authors. APIC publishes a quarterly journal of campaign history, The Keynoter. and provides museum internships to qualified college students to work at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

Operating model

Revenue model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent revenue detail to tell how this nonprofit funds its work.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 92
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.1%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 92.2%; rating input score 92

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.34; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.4% per year; rating input score 0; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.1% of revenue deployed · 92.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $78K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.