Canton Historical Society Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
066085784
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Canton, CT, USA
Phone
8606932793
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$76,504
Expenses
$77,004
Assets
$680,735
Liabilities
$896

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KATHLEEN TAYLOR (PRESIDENT)
  • JENNIFER ASARO (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • LINDA WELLES (DIRECTOR): $2,200 total reported compensation
  • GREGORY KRISS (DIRECTOR): $2,200 total reported compensation
  • KATHY TAYLOR (OFFICE MANAGER): $2,200 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To preserve and maintain the historical collection of the canton museum. To educate visitors on the history of the town, the importance of the local manufacturing base, lifestyles in the victorian era, and the tools and trades practiced in the area. The life of settlers and prominent individuals are included in primary source materials.

What it reported doing in 2025

Museum operations - tours are given by the museum staff and others on aspects of life in the canton environs and describing the use of items contained in the collection. The museum is open to the general public with individualized tours being offered. Approx 3,000 individuals from the u.s. And several foreign countries toured the museum. Several open houses are held each year to allow individuals to view the collection free of charge. The in-kind donations of our volunteer staff are integral to the support of these activities. In addition to viewing the collection, some visitors use the museum library and collection as research for school projects, authors writing books on various topics, tv producers doing research for historical shows and people who want to do genealogical research on their families.

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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 62.5%; rating input score 63
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.79 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.7%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.84; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.6%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72% of revenue deployed · 62.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $48K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.