Del Norte County Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
946123270
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Crescent City, CA, USA
Phone
7074643922
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$96,224
Expenses
$101,227
Assets
$378,781
Liabilities
$16,329

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Sean Smith (President)
  • Harlan Watkins (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Karen Betlejewski (Museum Coordinator): $17,280 total reported compensation
  • Lori Bomke (Bookkeeper): $3,613 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The societys mission is to discover, collect, preserve and present the documents, structures, artifacts and ideas pertaining to the county and to provide suitable museums or homes for such items in order to maintain them as public educational resources.

What it reported doing in 2025

The Society operates a Museum which contains a wealth of displays depicting the history of Del Norte County. It includes one of the finest Native American basket collections in Northern California. Available to the public for research and educational purposes is an extensive inventory of research books and material. The Bolen Annex houses the First Order Fresnel Lens from the Saint George Reef Lighthouse. The society operates the Battery Point Lighthouse and Museum. Its 164 year history is reflected in the displays of many artifacts and photographs. The society offers educational programs in cooperation with the local school districts and other educational institutions.

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 - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98.5%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 73.1%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 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: -5.2%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.74; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.6%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.9% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 98.5% of revenue deployed · 73.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $74K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $17K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.