Dekalb History Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237049254
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Decatur, GA, USA
Phone
4043731088
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies & Historic Preservation

Reported finances

Revenue
$731,971
Expenses
$719,484
Assets
$1,583,692
Liabilities
$37,974

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JACQUI STEELE (PRESIDENT)
  • SCOTT CANDLER IV (PRESIDENT-ELECT)
  • MELISSA CARLSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MELISSA CARLSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $102,243 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Historical preservation. The organization collects, preserves, and shares the history of dekalb county, Georgia. The organization's archives and museum are open to the public for research.

What it reported doing in 2024

Care, maintenance, and preservation of county and other historical documents and archives, including museum care, maintenance, preservation, and display of 3-d artifacts

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 64% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.8%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 83.7%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 51; 51st 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 1.7%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.2; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.2%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.8% of revenue deployed · 83.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 23 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $603K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $102K · 24 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 51/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.