Chicago Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362167004
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2023
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3126424600
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
History Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,887,827
Expenses
$19,103,027
Assets
$126,565,181
Liabilities
$61,288,324

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

Leadership & pay

47 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Donald Lassere (President & CEO)
  • Cheryl Obermeyer (Vice President of Finance)
  • Michael Anderson (Vice President of Development)
  • Thema McDonald (Vice President of Marketing & Communications)

Highest reported compensation

  • Donald Lassere (President & CEO): $361,936 total reported compensation
  • Cheryl Obermeyer (Vice President of Finance): $232,979 total reported compensation
  • Michael Anderson (Vice President of Development): $195,664 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Chicago History Museum strives to be a destination for learning, inspiration, and civic engagement. Through dynamic exhibitions, tours, programs, digital resources, and special events, the Museum connects people to Chicago's history and to each other.

What it reported doing in 2024

EDUCATION AND AUDIENCE - At the heart of the Chicago History Museum's mission to connect people to Chicago's history and each other, is our commitment to design and offer meaningful and relevant programs, resources, and experiences within and beyond the museum walls. We strive to empower and inspire learners of all ages and backgrounds to investigate Chicago's rich histories and nurture their curiosity and potential to be active history makers. Through rich and diverse educational experiences and programs, we hope to inspire lifelong learning and contribute to shaping an urban society that is inclusive, empathetic, and aware of its power to learn from and make history and influence positive change for future generations. In FY24, a set of key programming and learning guidelines was established to ensure departmental learning was in alignment with CHM's institutional mission, contemporary museum learning discourse, and the nuanced needs of the groups the department serves. These guidelines required programming to be learner-centered, culturally responsive, inquiry and civic-minded, and actively anti-racist; allowing audiences to see themselves in history and make meaningful connections to their lives and Chicago.

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 most voting board members are independent. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 73.5%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -60.7%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.63; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.48; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.1%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 73.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 41 of 41 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $14M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $362K · 47 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $695K reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 39 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule G fundraiser detail did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.