H-net Humanities & Social Sciences Online

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
134252117
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
East Lansing, MI, USA
Phone
5174325134
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Libraries

Reported finances

Revenue
$830,288
Expenses
$885,762
Assets
$406,041
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANDREW KETTLER (PRESIDENT)
  • LORNA ZUKAS (PRESIDENT)
  • EVAN ROTHERA (PAST PRESIDENT)
  • JENNIFER MONROE MCCUTCHEN (PRESIDENT ELECT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JESSE DRAPER (EXEC DIRECTOR): $94,974 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Support research, teaching, and service in the humanities and social sciences by sponsoring free online forums, publishing professional book reviews, providing a job notification service, and distributing a free professional events calendar.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provided support for research, teaching, and services in the humanities and social sciences by sponsoring free online forums, publishing professional book reviews, providing a job notification service, and distributing a free events calendar.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 67% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.5%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 84.7%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.64 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th 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: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: -6.7%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.46; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.3%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.5% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.3% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.5% of revenue deployed · 84.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $750K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $95K · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.