East Tennessee Historical Society Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
263215625
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2008
Location
Knoxville, TN, USA
Phone
8652158824
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$157,780
Expenses
$43,606
Assets
$4,289,297
Liabilities
$32,192

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • A Warren Dockter (President/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • A Warren Dockter (President/CEO): $128,361 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 mission is to provide monetary support for the activities of the ETHS, whose mission is to preserve, interpret and promote the history of Tennessee, with emphasis on East Tennessee. The East Tennessee Historical Society Foundation (ETHSF) board decided to temporarily suspend its mission of providing funds to ETHS. It elected to retain funds in the foundation as a means of growing the endowment until the endowment reaches a level better able to support ETHS activities.

What it reported doing in 2024

The ETHSF board of directors authorized salary supplements for two ETHS, Inc. senior level staff to enable ETHS to employ and retain high quality persons and still balance its budget. The supplements are temporary and ETHSF still intends to retain the majority of its funds as a means of growing the endowment.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 42
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 82
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 34.9%; rating input score 35
  • Program expense ratio: 68.8%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 72.4%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 98.36; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 30.6%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 24.9% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -26.8% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 34.9% of revenue deployed · 68.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $30K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $128K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 35/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.