Hawaiian Historical Society
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 990076893
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Honolulu, HI, USA
- Phone
- 8085376271
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $288,585
- Expenses
- $207,242
- Assets
- $2,432,224
- Liabilities
- $5,251
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
14 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JULIAN KEIKILANI AKO (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- CYNTHIA ENGLE (EXECUTIVE DI): $80,743 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 society is dedicated to preserving historical materials relating to Hawaii, and to publishing scholarly research on hawaiian history so present and future peoples throughout the world will recognize and appreciate the history. The society strives to establish and maintain a secure and publicly accessible library of historical resource materials; to support research, translation, and publication of significant historical information primarily about Hawaii and its people and, secondarily, about the pacific at large; and to simulate the discovery, collection, and preservation of historical documentary materials.
What it reported doing in 2024
The collection, study, preservation & publication of materials pertaining to the history of Hawaii, polynesia, and the pacific area. During the fiscal year, one publication (the hawaiian journal of history, vol. 58) was issued, there were 575 membership units, the society's library was open to the public for 165 days, and there were sixteen public events.
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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 79
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 72
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 90.1%; rating input score 90
- Program expense ratio: 75%; rating input score 75
- Fundraising efficiency: $9.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
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: 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- 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: 28.2%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.74; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 39%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -4.1% per year; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.9% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 90.1% of revenue deployed · 75% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $155K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $81K · 14 people listed
- Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.