Cherokee County Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
581715932
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Canton, GA, USA
Phone
7703453288
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$730,077
Expenses
$762,709
Assets
$5,595,855
Liabilities
$1,599,013

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Rebecca J Johnston (President)
  • Chuck Douglas (Vice President)
  • Kyle Bennett (Past President)
  • Stefanie Joyner (Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • Rebecca J Johnston (President)
  • Chuck Douglas (Vice President)
  • Billy Peppers (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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

History Cherokee is a nonprofit organization engaged in the collection, preservation, and interpretation of Cherokee County History.

What it reported doing in 2024

Produced Black History Driving Tours in both digital and print format, for the Georgia cities of Canton and Woodstock. Both versions included historic photographs, information about each site, and a map of all 19 sites. This project is supported by Georgia Humanities, in partnership with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, through funding from the Georgia General Assembly. The digital tour was created using Open Tour Building, a free software platform created by the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship.

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

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.1%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 80.4%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.33 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: -4.5%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.34; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.29; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.8% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.1% of revenue deployed · 80.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $613K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 25 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.